We have been eating a fair bit of Baby Leaf Salad and Rocket, but the high spot of this week has been the harvest of my first big batch of Radishes. We had had a few prior to this, but just half a dozen at a time. Here we have 2 x "Cherry Belle", 3 x "Malaga Purple", 2 x "White Icicle" (aka "Eiszapfen" from Lidl!)and 3 x "French Breakfast".
This is different though...
There are four different varieties of Radish in these photos. The round red ones are "Scarlet Globe" and "Cherry Belle", the long red-and-white ones are "French Breakfast", and on the top of the pile are just two "Malaga Purple".
To produce good Radishes I think there are probably three golden rules:
1. Choose a site that will get lots of sunlight
2. Sow the seed thinly - about an inch between seeds.
3. Water frequently, regularly and copiously
Radishes grown in dry soil almost always bolt before plumping-up, but even if they do, all is not lost. You can let them flower and produce seeds for sowing next year - and the seed-pods are edible too!
When it comes to eating Radishes, yes we do sometimes have them sliced as a salad ingredient, but our favorite way to eat them is dipped in salt, as an accompaniment to a pre-dinner drink.
If I had heaps of Radishes I might be tempted to cook some, because I've heard that they are nice stir-fried, or even roasted. Likewise, you can eat the leaves (lightly steamed, to accompany Chinese food is a good way, apparently). All this is hypothetical though, because I never have large quantities of Radishes and I don't want to risk being without our favorite snack!
