Radishes
 

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!

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.

I like Hailstone, another white variety.

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

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!

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.

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. :)

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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?