Radishes

[Adenn1]

I have never grown radishes and wonder if they are worth the effort. My wife loves them in her salads...and I just wonder if home grown are better than the standard radishes one gets at the store.

Any varities that stand out? I have some room in front of my tomatoes and thought I could try some.

Thanks much!

[timcunningham]

The only experience I have had with radishes was this year. I grew a "White Box Radish" seeds from seedsavers.org. I grew them in my square foot garden, 16 radishes per 1 foot square. Radishes grow very quickly 30 days DTM. I usually don't like the kind of radishes you get in the store, as they give me heartburn. But the White Box Radish was much milder and had an excellent taste.

In my opinion, radishes are very hassle free thing to grow. They also add a nice touch when you have company, ask them to go pull a couple radishes for the salad. They will be impressed with how fresh your food is.

[shelleybean]

I like Hailstone, another white variety.

They're really the easiest thing to grow. You should do it.

[coronabarb]

Yes, on the pods! I have wild radish plants that grow as weeds here. I harvest the pods while young and put in salads and stir-fry. I sometimes eat them raw while working around the garden...spicy!

[landarc]

By pods, are you talking about the seed pods? Do all radishes have edible, and delicious, pods?

love the avatar C-Barb, reminds me of a couple pups I knew.

[feldon30]

If radishes were hard to grow and took up a lot of time and space, then yes, I'd say just buy from the grocery store.

But since you can grow a lot in a short amount of time in a small space and grow varieties that the grocery store has never heard of, I'd dedicate a couple of square feet to em to make the wife happy.

[coronabarb]

Have any of you grown Daikons? Now there's a serious radish.

[landarc]

My Grandmother used to grow them in her garden. I tried once, but, am too lazy to dig deep enough, so I ended up with mishapen, ugly daikon.

[cottonpicker]

I've grown Daikon (my wife who is Chinese calls them LoBok) as a Fall crop. Did very well for me & as you mentioned, deep digging is necessary for a good quality product.
LarryD

[Althea]

Radishes are defintely worth growing and they are really no trouble at all. They germinate in cool weather so you can plant them very early spring and by the time they are ready - about a month, you can plant something else in the space after harvesting the radishes.

We had our first of the season last night, Cherrybelle, a red variety. Yummmmm!

[Adenn1]

Just an update...I did find room last year to try two types of radishes: Cherrybelle and French Breakfast. I had problems of trying to grow both in heavy clay soil...some did not form a bulb or came out very small. I did put some down one end of the bed where the compost bin was...so the soil was lighter there...they came out much better. The French Breakfast radishes had a pretty good "zing" to them...much more than the Cherrybelles. Did make my wife happy and I will try more this year...and will make a greater effort to find a spot with lighter soil.

[LoreD]

If you would like something different, try sauteed radishes. Mild and sweet. My brother-in-law is so crazy about cooked radishes that I have to grow a whole patch of radishes just to make him happy. Works for cucumbers too.

Cooked radishes. YUM

LoreD

[Adenn1]

Cooked radishes and cukes...never thought about doing that...but what the heck. I guess you could lightly cook them in olive oil and a bit of seasonings?

[gardenmaniac]

My 7 year old son is obsessed with radishes. He loves all of them. I think his favorite is French Breakfast because of the name. I love pink beauty- they are so pretty. We love radishes so much that when our grass goes dormant in the winter, we broadcast out French Breakfast into the lawn and they grow completly in the thatch (we use organic methods on our lawn). No insects bother them there and they are very clean.

My son also LOVES sauteed radishes. He likes them sauteed in a little butter and olive oil dressed with herbs. They cook up like a potato and milder than when they start.

We also grow the winter storage radishes but they are really hot. Slice off a hunk, salt, let sit a while, squeeze off water, eat, drink a swig of beer. My son is not as fond of these but I like them because they are huge (cool looking), good, and can be used in many ways. Market goers love them here.

Tiffanie

[tjg911]

Tiff,

The picture you posted is good.

For those interested, the large carrot sized radish that is green on the top and white on the bottom appears to be Green Misato. I have grown GM for the past 3 years and I like it the best of the winter radishes I've grown. Some are hot but some are milder. They require 60-70 days to grow so you have to plant them in mid August here. Do not plant winter keeping radishes in the spring as they'll bolt as the days grow longer because winter keeping radishes are for late summer planting with 60-80 days to maturity. I pull them in late October or early November after they'd been hit by several frosts. I store them in a plastic grocery bag with a damp napkin. This variety stores about 6 months, I have about 5 pounds left.

I have about 10 pounds of Round Black Spanish. I have pickled them (salt for 30 min, rinse, cover with rice vinegar) but other than that I have no idea what to do with them. Recipes?

Tom