Radishes. Vivid red and white balls of crunchy spiciness. Plant them early in the spring and eat them twenty-eight days later. Plant them again in late summer as a quick succession crop.

Ever the optimist, I sow a square of seeds. After a month I pull a few good radishes, but soon the rest have either bolted or are spoiled by maggot tunnels. Disappointing. Hardly worth the effort.

But this summer I’ve come to a new understanding of radishes.

Netting

I’ve been using netting extensively this year because of slug and rabbit predation. One day it occurred to me to find out if the netting also might be a solution to my carrot failures. It turns out that ground level damage in many root vegetables is caused by flies that lay eggs on the soil around the seedlings. The larvae hatch and burrow into taproots, ruining them. Hmmm. Maybe I could grow a good crop of carrots after all.

The first time I grew daikon radishes, they were spectacular. Every year after that, they have been wrecked by root maggots. Again, hmmm.

If netting will protect the carrots and the daikons, maybe I can grow Cherry Belle, and French Breakfast, and Crimson Globe. Fall harvest, here we come!

It's August. I have now sown two 4'x4' beds with Daikons, Cherry Belles, Black Spanish Winters and Nantes Coreless under popup garden nets. If this works, it will be a wonderful addition to my succession planting for maximum garden production.

Radish Sprouting Seeds

The next stage of my three-part revelation came as I observed my allotment neighbour’s garden strategies. She is a new convert to companion gardening, and I have to say, she is convincing. One of her beds was edged by red radishes because they “protect the soil, or keep away the pests, or something.” I watched her radishes grow far past the harvest stage and begin to bolt.

Then it hit me (like a bolt out of the blue, you might say). Every winter I grow superfood sprouts. My sprouting seed source has always been Mumm’s, a terrific Canadian company that I wholeheartedly recommend. But … why couldn’t I grow my own sprouting seeds? Sometimes I wonder how it  takes me so long to think of these things. Radish sprouts are by far my favourite for winter sprouting, and they are close to foolproof. So … no more pulling out the radishes the minute they start to bolt.

Radish Pods

So by now, being tuned in to all things radish, it was a simple progression from radish seed saving to radish pod eating, which is something I’d never heard of before. People eat radish pods. People grow radishes for the sole purpose of eating radish pods. Since I had let a patch of radishes bolt in order to harvest the seeds, I took a good look at them, and sure enough there were pods. I tried a few. I shared a few with another gardener. We both agreed. Crunchy, juicy, mildly radish-flavoured. Quite worth growing. They would be lovely as a garnish, or on a salad, or even in a bowl to snack on while watching a show. Many pod-eaters steam them as a green vegetable. 

Nutrition Nugget

Radish is one of the few vegetables naturally low in potassium, phosphorus, and sodium, making it a safe and flavourful choice for kidney patients.

♦  Low potassium levels mean less chance of dangerous mineral buildup.

♦  Vitamin C without potassium – unlike citrus fruits, radish offers antioxidants without increasing potassium.

♦  Flavour without salt – its peppery taste can reduce the need for salt-heavy seasonings.

If you've been with me any length of time, you know about my goal of growing as much of our own food as I possibly can. As an urban homesteading conserver, this new understanding of radishes makes me quietly happy. I hope I’ve found the key to getting a successful crop using netting. I can increase the food production of my garden space, not only with succession planting, but also by producing radish pods. And I can save the cost of buying and shipping sprouting seeds by taking a small extra step to save them myself.

It’s a revelation!