Saturday, February 6, 2010

Is this radish?




Is this radish?

We are just starting on a real adventure... nothing special, just about growing radishes. Seven seedlings are set on the vegetable bed. The vegetable bed was previously occupied by  roselles which had given us lovely juice and jam. Now I am about to do serial post on Radish. It must be a real exploratory adventure, for something we never tried.... The stem is light red in colour ... and that is the signature of Radishes! It is going to be fun, waiting for the big red tuber to develop... We plan to germinate seeds at two week interval, to prolong the fun and adventure until we run out of seeds given by Gittan from Sweden. I always make sure there will be seeds saved by allowing radishes to go the whole cycle.


Extra Info:

The word 'radish' is derived from the Saxon, rude, rudo, or reod (ruddy), or from the Sanskrit rudhira, meaning blood, referring to the bright red colour of the vegetable.

Originally from China, radishes reached  Mediterranean areas even before Greek times. They are a staple food in Japan and China, where they are often pickled in brine, preserving them for long periods of time.

Radishes like sun, but at the same time like cool conditions. If they are grown in full sun during the summer, they will run to seed or bolt very quickly. For this reason they are ideally suited to as a growing companion to other vegetables such as peas or beans.


The variety to the left is 'Champion'. Very easy to grow, it produces medium-sized ruby-red radishes which are both crunchy and tangy. An excellent choice.

In spring and late autumn when radishes need the sun most, the peas or beans will be short or have been cut down, whereas in the hotter summer months, they will provide welcome shade for your radishes. There is no need to restrict them to being vegetable companions - they will grow equally well amongst deciduous shrubs (such as roses) and annuals (such as sweet peas).

Radish are very well suited to growing in containers. They can be sown between other crops which will protect them from the harsh summer sun. They will prefer a loam based compost such as John Innes. Just make sure they are kept well-watered in dry conditions and they will be fine. Click for more info. How to sow Radish Seed 


~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia.

11 comments:

  1. Have a good try - your skilful gardening hands will help along.

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  2. That is definitely radish. :) I recognize him. I think it is so cool you're raising something brand new to you. Can't wait to see the rest of the journey!

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  3. Yes, I concur...definitely radish. I have some planted indoors because I needed photos of seedlings emerging and radish were the fastest and earliest to get going. Congrats!

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  4. Oh, yes. Definitely a radish! Such a pretty little seedling, too.

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  5. I envy your having fresh picked radishes in a bit... I love the crispness and tangy bite. Quite good for us too! I would go with the radish ... those sweet little heart shaped leaves.

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  6. Oh yeas! That's definitely radish, I love to see that! Don't forget that they need a lot of water otherwise they won't taste good. In a few weeks you'll get to taste them / gittan

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  7. Keats The Sunshine Girl
    Meredith
    jodi (bloomingwriter)
    Annie's Granny
    Carol
    gittan

    Thanks for your encouraging comments about radish.

    Real farmer will mention about 7 rows of radishes in 7 vegetable beds. For my little vegetable garden, the scale is different. I talk about 7 seedlings. I guess 7 is enough for two mouths and definitely is adequate to start growing something new.

    The other day Kakdah realised that her young zinnias at 4 leaves, gone missing. We suspect it is the job of snails or slugs. We will hunt them high and low if they come near these young radishes.

    After going through several cycles, most of us can recognise the young seedlings. Each type of plant is unique. Radishes have beautiful first two leaves with the shape of hearts.

    The time will come when the description offered by Carol comes true... "crispness and tangy bite" ..

    Stay tune.


    Cheers,
    ~bangchik

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  8. Yes, these are radish. Isn't it exciting when we grow something new to us.

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  9. yum I can almost taste them. It will be interesting to watch your grow.

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  10. Jo
    and Melanie

    Thanks, something new is always exiting; the expectation, anticipation and suspense. ~bangchik

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  11. I have loved radishes since I was a little girl planting them in my mother's garden. They are about the fastest-growing vegetables I know of. I hope you enjoy them. I'll be looking forward to planting them here next month.

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