Radishes. Always the very first garden snack to come up.
They may seem boring and kind of utilitarian but radishes are always one of my favourite things to pick from the garden. Especially now that I'm growing about 7 different varieties.
It's soon going to be too warm to grow radishes, and I'll have to remember to put another batch in closer to the end of summer. Radishes are like the elderly. They don't like the heat.
Betty was over the other day and noticed that my radishes were about to go to seed. She did not notice this because she has a keen sense and love of gardening. She noticed it because she has a keen love of radishes.
This year the first radishes to ripen were the Icicle Radishes (long and white), the Cherry Belle radishes and the Purple radish from William Dam's Easter Egg hybrid radishes.
I've found that anything purple from the garden (like Cubit's Cosmic Purple carrots) absolutely GLOWS. The purples are always my favourites.
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The best way to store radishes (whether from the grocery store or your garden) is to cut the tops off and put them in a bowl of water in the refrigerator.
They'll stay crisp and crunchy and good for ages. Or you can do like most gardeners do and just eat them right out of the dirt.
Of course if you do that you have to walk around with a packet of salt in your pocket because there's nothing better than a radish dipped in salt. NOT sprinkled. DIPPED. I learned that little trick from my mother, who also dips her chicken, potatoes and toothpaste in salt. She does that after drinking the olive juice from the jar.
If you ever want to buy my mother a present a salt lick would be a good way to go.
It's not too late to have radishes like these. You can give them a shot now, and if they don't do well (as I said before radishes don't like heat), you can plant them when the weather starts to get a tiny bit cooler, say around the beginning of August here in Southern Ontario. By the time they germinate and pop up, the nights will be cooler but there will still be plenty of sun for them to grow.
Ditto for purple carrots by the way.
If you're interested in growing your own salt lick I'm afraid you're on your own.
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Deana
I don't grow my own radishes but when I get a whole lot on sale at the store we eat as many as we can raw, then I steam the rest and serve them with butter, salt and pepper. They taste like steamed cauliflower. They are also good in a cream sauce when you want to get fancy and impress. It's funny how they taste like cauliflower when steamed and turnip when roasted. I like them any way I can get them. Will have to try the greens next time too.
Maria
So your mom is addicted to salt? I don't like salty things and I don't like radishes but I am addicted to your blog. I read it even when you talk about things I'm not interested in just to see what you will say next.
theresa
I think one of the things I like best about this blog is that the comment section reminds me so much of a great cocktail party or my Wednesday night knitting support group...there are actually an number of different conversations going on at once and they all have something interesting to add to the mix--salt licks, radishes, visiting Toronto, gardening--but this way I can follow each...hmmm never thought of radishes as I don't like them from the store but things from the garden taste better so maybe I should try after all.
Karen
Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened Theresa, but it's true. I have a really good commenting community. ~ karen!
Shauna
Perfect timing, I just got radishes in my CSA box and am running out of room in the fridge.
SarahP
I always plant radishes just so I can get excited to see something pop-up in my garden so quickly. I've never tried them dipped in salt - but now I'm willing them to grow faster just to try it.
Jackie Lovett
thats drink the olive juice
Jackie Lovett
your mother is my kindred spirit. Salt on everything and I dring the green olive juice too.
love your blog btw
Debbie
I don't like radishes, but I love reading what you write. I still won't eat a radish.
christine
When I was a child, radishes tasted peppery and "hot" so I avoided them. Now, I simply don't know how to prepare/eat them, so I never buy them. I'd love some inspiration!
Grammy
I never much cared for radishes, but my husband loves them. Since I have been the home gardener here for nearly 40 years, we didn't usually grow radishes. No, I'm not mean, I just didn't think of them. Anyway, now that my guy is in his dotage (not really, but we tell each other all the time how close we're getting to "the kids" taking our keys away) I decided he should have a garden, too. So we got a kit and built a beautiful raised bed that doesn't require him to kneel down to garden, filled it with good soil, and bought a handful of radish seed packets.
It's so hot here, the radish season is already over till the end of summer, but he did manage to grow several harvests of beautiful radishes before the heat set in. I showed him how to divide the bed so he knew which were which and could then determine which he liked more, etc. He now knows which he likes, about planting some now and some in a couple of weeks, how to water them and how to tell when they're ready for harvest. I have pictures of him holding up his first fine harvest and it is a joy to behold.
A Mexican friend told us radishes are best sliced and served over Mexican rice. He looked like he was going into a dream-state as he described it, so it must be true. We didn't learn it till The Mister's crop was already gone, but I look forward to giving that a try come Autumn. Perhaps I'll become a radish lover.
Nancy Blue Moon
Those are some pretty radishes Karen..In my family we always dipped them in salt too..I never tried growing them but those French ones sound good..I am trying some container veggie gardening this year..I have two tomato plants and a big planter full of loose leaf lettuce..all are doing well..in fact will be making a salad with some of the lettuce today..yum
jeannie B
Radishes are a really understated vegetable. They look beautiful in salads and I, too, was introduced to the
"radish sandwich" years ago. Fresh whole grain bread slathered with mayonnaise and filled with thin slices of radish, salt and pepper. Must get some radishes soon. And I'll try storing them in water in the fridge too.
Jessica@CapeofDreams
Don't forget to cook your radish tops. They are delicious!
Manisha
The purple looks awesome! I didn't like radishes all that much as I was growing up but now I love them. They are some of the first vegetables to come in my CSA box and I feel like the winter toxins are flushing out with each bite.
Karol
I love Betty more and more... I used to eat the salt packed around the ice cream maker while I was turning the crank. My favorite part of homemade ice cream.
Melissa in North Carolina
Great post! Lovely photos, too. Love me some radishes :) Would love to try the white and purple ones. Do they taste different from the red?
Karen
Hi Melissa - All radishes taste a bit different. Some are hotter than others, some are milder. French Breakfast radishes are quite mild while the Black ones with white centres are REALLY hot. If you read the seed packet it should say if they're strong or mild. ~ karen!
Feral Turtle
There is still hope for fall radishes! Thanks for the great tips.
~JackieVB
I must be old before my time because I don't like the heat either, of course the humidity down here in Virginia doesn't help. As for radishes, I like to slice them and serve them with sour cream, sliced green onions and salt and pepper.
Karen
LOL. See? And humidity is what I LOVE. I was just talking to a neighbour about this the other day. (Ontario is very, VERY humid in the summer) I love it when I walk outside and literally get hit in the face with the humidity. Love it. Of course, I love it considerably more now that I finally have central air conditioning. ~ karen!
Elen Grey | Deep in B-ville Writing Over the Garage
These images look good enough to eat. If I only liked radishes... which I don't. Makes me want to grow them anyway. ;-)
Ady
Lovely radishes! The purple are the prettiest!
My Mom and I love bread, butter, and radish sandwiches. The bread has to be thin sliced white bread and the radishes should be lightly salted. Great for breakfast!
An aside: my Grandparents owned a feed store. I used to carry the rabbit salt licks around and lick them all day. We also used the lamb worming syringes as squirt guns to extinguish the workers' cigarettes, but that's an aside to the aside...