Growing Radishes

Radishes are harvested when they're young and tender, when they taste the best.

For those of you watching your waistline, garden vegetables are the way to dine. Take a radish, for example. It's 94 percent water and has absolutely no fat and very few calories. For such a little nugget, it's loaded with a lot of flavor.

Most of you are probably familiar with the red radish 'Cherry Belle'. This is a cool-season radish, which means it's planted in early spring and harvested within 25 days. The only catch is that once temperatures warm up, these turn to wood and don't taste very good. Not to worry, many different varieties are available that will allow you to extend your harvest. For example, white radishes like the 'White Icicle' or the giant Asian varieties are more tolerant of warm weather.

Radishes grow best in full sun but tolerate some shade. To plant, start out by making a furrow. Then plant the seeds every one to two inches apart. After covering up the seeds, be sure to keep them well watered. As the radishes start to grow, thin them out by pulling out every other plant. This will allow those left behind to get larger. And don't forget--harvest radishes when they're young and tender, when they taste the best.

Also in this Episode

Rebecca's Garden : Episode REB-629
•	Flowering Trees
•	Growing Radishes
•	20-Minute Topiaries
•	Enabling Gardens
•	Container Garden