Gardening 101, Radishes, How To Grow Them, Medicinal Properties of Radishes, And How To Cook Radishes.

There are really two types of radishes. There is the popular bright red or white radish that is fast growing and grown in the summer time and there is the slower maturing, sharper flavor radish known as a winter radish which has either a white or black skin. You will find that children really like to grow the red radish because it only takes about three weeks from planting the radish to pulling it up and eating it.

You can plant radishes in a container and if you plant the radishes thinly in the container you'll end up with a nice crop of radishes that the kids can pull up and enjoy knowing that they helped to grow the radishes themselves. Mix your radish seeds with an equal amount of sand when you plant them and your radishes won't end up coming up to thick.

You will want to grow radishes in short 5-6 feet long rows that will produce about all the radishes the average family can eat. To insure you have radishes all summer long and well into fall plant a 5-6 foot long row of radishes about every week all summer long and up to the first few weeks of October so you can harvest all the radishes you want. You can plant winter radishes in early fall and if there is a danger of frost mulch them heavily. Winter varieties of radish take about 60 days to grow and develop. Straw mulch makes the best mulch for radishes you hope to grow all winter long. In the American deep south you can plant and grow radishes all winter long.

Did You Know You Can Cook Radishes?

A lot of people don't but you can cut the tops off radishes and cook them just like you would turnips. I cook them often especially in the spring and they are delicious. Just cut them up in small pieces cover them with water and add a little sugar, salt, and black pepper to them and cook until the radishes are soft. You'll end up with a delicious side dish that I bet you won't believe the flavor of. You can add a few radishes to your greens while they are cooking for a tasty treat.

Radishes also make some of the most delicious pies you'll ever eat in your life. Check them out below.

In order to prepare the soil to plant radishes your going to want to dig the soil out down to about six inches and in the bottom put in a 2 inch deep layer of compost or well rotted manure and about one cup of 5-10-5 fertilizer for every five foot of radish row. Fill the remaining space with good quality topsoil.

You will want to sow the radish seeds directly into the soil as soon as the ground can be worked. You will find that the seeds are just large enough that you can space them out and avoid having to do a lot of thinning later on. You can also plant your radishes in with slow growing plants like parsnips and carrots and this will also help to mark those rows.

Your radishes will need plenty of water and again let me tell you water just after dark after the sun has gone down. The radishes and the ground around them needs to be well soaked down at least once a week. Thick radishes won't develop big radishes so no matter how carefully you have planted your radishes you will probably have to end up thinning them to get them to produce nice big crunchy radishes.

Be Sure To Keep The Grass And Weeds Out Of Your Garden

Fight the weeds with a vengeance and keep the weeds out of your radishes and you'll have a much better crop of radishes. Use care when your pulling up weeds though because if you don't use care you'll end up pulling up your radishes.

Prepare Your Soil Carefully Where Your Going To Be Growing Radishes

Radishes grow close to the surface of the soil.Your radishes also need loose soil to grow in. Radishes don't do well in tightly packed clay soil. So if your going to want to grow radishes you'll need to prepare your soil for radishes. Rake your soil carefully while your preparing the soil to make sure you remove any and all rocks from your garden. When you don't have any radishes in the ground dig down in each row and add new compost and well rotted manure each year. Also add more fertilizer each year. In time you will have really loose soil that radishes will love.

How To Deal With Radish Pests

The only pest you will really have to worry about with radishes is a root maggot that will bore into your radishes. This often happens in ground where cabbage have been grown before. If you find this happening you'll want to use the pesticide called diazinon but be sure that you read the label directions carefully.

You will find that there are now all different colors of radishes available for you to grow. Try growing some of the Japanese daikon radishes that grow up to 18 inches long and 3 inches around. The daikon has white flesh and it remains crisp and mild with a touch of sweetness. It takes about 60 days to grow daikon radishes.

In case you don't know radishes are high in Vitamin C. In fact a half cup of radishes will provide you with over 8 mg of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is a great antioxidant that helps to repair tissue , blood vessels, and improve the health of your teeth and gums so no you shouldn't walk past the radishes. But you should also know that they are one of the easiest to grow garden vegetables. Did you know that radishes were once considered so important in ancient Greece that gold statues of them were made.

If your looking for a tasty snack that is also healthy for you then you need to buy or grow some radishes and chill them in your refrigerator. I like them chilled with just a little ground sea salt sprinkled on them. They are so delicious that way. Try them and see what you think.

Radish Sprouts Are So Delicious

If you like sprouts and you can obtain a supply of radish seeds that have not been treated you can grow some delicious radish sprouts that really add so much to a salad. You have truly not lived until you have tried radish sprouts.

In the United States the radish is usually eaten raw or in salads but the entire plant is edible and delicious. Try pulling up your ripe radishes and cut the radishes from the tops. Wash the tops well and cook them just like you would greens. Cut up radishes into the greens while they are cooking and you won't believe how delicious radishes are cooked this way.

Where Did Radishes Come From

The radish can be traced back to the time of the early Roman empire and before. Wild forms of the radish and its relatives the mustard and the turnips can be found growing all over Europe and they have been eaten there for thousands of years. It is in Europe in Romania that I was first served cooked radishes and the tops as I described above. They were delicious cooked this way and I really enjoined them. Local people in Romania said they have been cooking and eating radishes there for as long as anyone can remember.

A Radish Pie is perfect for a vegetarian diet and its delicious. Radishes, Walnuts, and Goat Cheese give this pie a unique taste that is oh so delicious and it will have people wondering what's in it and how did you do that. I use a bought pie crust that is ready to bake for this pie and it works out perfect every time. This pie is delicious either hot or chilled.

Ingredients For Your Radish Pie

1. Four Ounces Unflavored Goat Cheese.

2. Three Fourths Cup Of Heavy Cream.

3. Three Fourths Cup Of Fine Chopped English Walnuts.

4. Two Large Eggs.

5. Two Tablespoons Good Quality Sherry. , ( Not Cooking Sherry )

6. One Large Sweet Red Onion Diced Fine.

7. Two Bunches Cleaned And Diced.

8. Two Tablespoons Olive Oil.

9. Two Tablespoons Real Butter.

First of all you will want to clean and dice the radishes and put them in a small baking dish where you have first put the olive oil. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees until the radishes are soft.

Butter your pie shell on the inside all over and cut some small slits in the bottom.

Sauté the onion in the remaining butter and cook it until soft. Turn off the heat and add the sherry stirring while you do it.

Now mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and then pour out in your prepared pie shell and bake about 40 minutes until it is firmly set and then remove from the oven. Garnish the top with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy.

Radishes are a great source of folic acid, potassium, and ascorbic acid. They are a great source of Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Riboflavin, and Copper and Calcium. One cup of sliced up red radishes contains only 20 calories.

Radishes Are Being Studied To See If They Can Prevent Cancer

Radishes contain great cancer preventing properties that are currently being studied. In history radishes have been eaten and proved to restore the human liver to normal. When you eat radishes you are consuming huge amounts of Vitamin C.

In case you haven't figured it out yet there should be radishes in your future and you should be growing radishes in your garden. If you have any questions about radishes feel free to ask. I want to thank you for taking the time to read my Hub Page on radishes. I appreciate you taking the time to read this Hub Page on radishes. I hope there are radishes in your future real soon.