Radish
One person in the house really enjoys radish and it’s not the kids or the person responsible for grocery shopping. Since the shopper has somehow always conveniently forget to put radish into the grocery cart :-0, the radish lover decides to grow them in the garden instead.
One of the easiest and fastest crops to grow, (great for those of us who are impatient:-0) you can sow the seeds directly in a pot outdoors, about 1 cm in depth and 3cm apart. The seeds germinate best in spring or the fall or when the weather is between 50 to 75 degree Fahrenheit (10 to 24 degree Celsius). We sowed ours in May. Since summer in the Greater Seattle Area is relatively mild, you can grow them in June and July as well. Within a week, we saw leaves sprouting out and soon, little red growth started peaking above the soil.
If you want your radish to grow big, you would need to thin them until the tops have reached 1-2 inches (2.54cm -5.08cm) to ensure room for the roots to grow. Other than that, we pretty much left them alone. Although we were warned that slugs may nibble on the radishes, we never encountered that problem.
By the fifth week, we were ready to harvest our first batch of radish!
A note: Don’t let it get too big as they will become very peppery and may taste “woody”.
Fast growing radishes are typically sown in between rows of slower growing vegetables because they can be sown without disturbing the other vegetables. However, we grow ours in pots, so it doesn’t matter.
High on nutrients, radishes have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Red radishes are packed with Vitamins E, A, C, B6, and K. Plus it’s high on antioxidants, fiber, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, calcium, iron and manganese. A half radishes cup per day, added to the salad or to eat as snack, can guarantee a daily assimilation of vitamin C equal to 15%.
If you don’t mind the bitter taste of the radish tops or leaves, you can eat them raw. But they probably taste better in soups or if you have a large batch, make them into pestos, just like you would use basil leaves.
Citations
Websites
Radish Growing Radish in Ireland How to Grow Radish in Ireland | GIY International. n.d. Available at https://giy.ie/get-growing/veg-directory/radish.ht ml
Chase, Nan n.d. Growing Radishes from Seed. DIY.
Available at https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/gardeni ng/growing-radishes-from-seed#:~:text=For the most part radish,depth must be right, too
Hassing, Stacie 2016. Garlic Roasted Radishes. The Real Food Dietitians.
Available at https://therealfoodrds.com/garlic-roasted-radishes /
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