When you can get a 6-year-old to eat pickled beets straight out of the jar, the beets must be pretty special.

That's exactly what one of Carole and Tom Fitzgerald's granddaughters does.

"We have to take the beets away from her. She won't eat anything else on her plate until all the beets are gone," said Carole, 69.

The recipe doesn't even use salt and pepper. What makes this simple preparation so special?

"It's the way I stir them," chimed in Tom, 71.

These beets have become a big family tradition. Literally. The Fitzgeralds canned more than 75 pounds in the summer and planned another big batch of fall beets.

"If we didn't make beets, we'd have to sell our house and move. Everyone in our church and neighborhood asks, 'When are you going to do the beets?'" Carole said.

And beets aren't the only food they preserve. "Basically, we'll can or cook anything we can get," Tom said, including corn, jellies, preserves, apple butter, tomatoes and green beans.

"We give it all away, to our Overland friends, church, family," Carole said. "We do it for grins. It's better to give than to receive. We just ask for the empty jars back. It's a blessing to give it all away. And we are a little nuts."

This year, the Fitzgeralds were inspired to start and coordinate Overland's farmers market, on the 2500 block of Woodson Road. It has more than a dozen vendors, most of them farmers from within 150 miles. The market is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays May through October; the last market of the season is Saturday.