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This is my 73rd year on this planet and during that time I have been a constant explorer, searcher, learner and taster of new things including but not limited to food. Among my food search were radishes.
As a child coming from a mixed heritage of German and Irish our meals were sort of eclectic and our favorite past times before TV and video games consisted of spending some time with our parents, aunts, uncles and family friends during gatherings. The kids would play and the older folks would sit around and talk and drink a beer or two and the German side of the family would provide plates of radishes with small dishes of salt in which to dip the radishes and eat them along while drinking their beer and visiting. Hence I grew up liking radishes.
Radishes really belong to the mustard family and that probably explains their sharp taste. They are also related to broccoli and watercress and though most of us really think of radishes as only red they come in a variety of colors such as white, rose, lavender, black and even purple.
My most favorite radish which I try to grow each spring is the French Breakfast radish which is a pre-1885 heirloom radish with a mild and spicy flavor. Its appearance appeals to the artist in me with its elongated body with a shiny red top and white bottom. One can plant them early in the spring in a sunny location and within 23 days one is eating them.
An interesting long rose colored radish is the Chinese Winter or Rose Radish which can be planted in the fall and about 55 days later you can be eating crisp, long winter radishes which are about 8” long and 2” wide. The young leaves can also be used in salads or used in stir-fry cooking.
If you want a mild radish and one that stays mild even when it gets very long that plant some Japanese Minowase Daikon radishes which produce giant size white radishes. An excellent radish used in Oriental cooking you may wind up growing a world record size radish with these babies which can be harvested 45 days from sowing the seed.
When you want to amaze your neighbors and even yourself try growing some Rat’s Tail Pod Radishes which come from Thailand and this radish grows along the top of the ground with loads of tender, large seed pods over 6 inches long growing upright from the ground tendrils almost looking like string beans at first glance. These were introduced to the United States in the 1860s and are wonderful when pickled and when just picked they can be added to salads and stir fries.
This is a fun garden veggie to grow with children and they can be continuously sown from April to August, being easy to grow and can be harvested within 50 days of sowing. It has an exciting, pungent flavor and when some of the pods get a violet tinge they flavor will be more pungent. Also note that the roots of these radishes are not edible.
Radishes are more than 90 percent water yet they contain as much potassium as a banana and almost half the ascorbic acid of an orange. Plus they are full of vitamin C, folate and a very good source of magnesium thus making them a good reason to make them part of your diet.
Once the radish season is over they are still available all year long and at a very moderate price in most super markets.
If you have a cold frame you can plant some Philadelphia White Box radishes which will grow into crisp, small white radishes great for over-wintering. They are mild and tasty and are a historic variety from the 1890’s. You can harvest within 30 days from an early spring or early fall sowing.
Winter radishes sown in the early fall are best sown 45 days or more before the first frost. Once grown you can harvest them and store and use them like turnips.
Most Americans add radishes to salads, but those of us from the days of the “Great Depression” remembering eating thinly sliced radishes on slices of rye bread spread with either butter or mayonnaise and generously salted and peppered. What a wonderful treat.
Most Americans also buy or plant the red, round global shaped radishes. However, when you want something special seek out the heirloom seeds mentioned above and give your taste buds a real treat.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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