Roots of Stimulation

Radishes Gratify the Senses

Each year now, when radish greens pop through the late-March snow, I remember these once curious words of my Irish grandmother.

“Give a child a puppy and he will love animals. Give him radish seeds to plant and he will love farming.”

Her earthy wisdom was long lost on a city kid but, as Grandma used to say, revelations are never untimely. Decades later I would finally understand - radishes teach the most basic lesson of husbandry with the closest thing that exists in agriculture to immediate gratification. They are to gardening as “1 plus 1 equals 2” is to math and the word “mama” is to language - the happiest short cut to understanding a complex system.

You Can't Mess Them Up

“What’s there to know? You can’t mess up radishes,” replied master gardener Khanh Hamilton, when asked for tips about growing radishes.

“They grow so fast you don’t even need to worry about bugs. Just plant them in a row and watch them grow. In three or four weeks you have food, ” she explained. Hamilton grows some of the most complex and beautiful radishes on her Dallas County Sunstead Farm. She supplies some of the best chefs in Central Iowa too. Yet, she says radishes are so simple to grow that most children can do it.

In Iowa, radishes are usually the first garden crop of Spring, or even late winter. They were probably the first crop that Columbus and his followers transplanted from Europe to the Americas. Though radishes were barely known in England before the middle of the 16th century, they became one of the very first crops that English colonists brought to North America.

While many Americans take them for granted today, they have been revered in other cultures.

~Radishes were so highly valued by the ancient Greeks that small replicas were made in gold whereas beets were shown in silver and turnips in lead.

~Nearly a third of the tonnage of vegetables grown in Japan is the radish daikon.

~Apothecaries in China, where most botanists believe radishes originated, use different parts of different radishes as medicines.

~A German botanist in 1544 reported a miraculous radish weighing a hundred pounds.

Some historians believe radishes were the missing link in the development of civilization. In “Food in History” Reay Tannahill writes that around 10,000 B.C. woman (as opposed to man, who was too busy hunting) discovered that radishes and turnips could be preserved better if stored in surroundings similar to where they had been gathered. So they began re-burying their roots. That led to the discovery that transplanted root vegetables would multiply into clusters, which led directly to the knowledge that new plants sprout from old seeds. That discovery created agriculture, permanent settlements and cities.

Scientifically the radish is a swollen hypocotyls and only partially a root. Its coloring comes from anthocyanin, which is related to tannins and has no function other than to give color. Radishes are divided into Spring and Winter types. Spring radishes are smaller, grow faster and are preferred in America. Winter radishes have longer growing seasons, larger and more elongated roots and are preferred in Asia. Europeans like both kinds.

Spring radishes are mostly eaten raw with butter and salt, or with vinegar and oil in salads. In China, Korea and Japan, most of the winter radish crop is pickled in brine, much like Americans pickle cucumbers. They are pickled whole in large tubs, with rice hulls added to the brine. The pickled product assumes a rather attractive yellow color but an acquired aroma. Salty and sprightly in flavor, pickled radish is a staple of the North Asian diet. There are also many esoteric uses for this versatile winter plant. In China, one kind is grown for the oil in its seeds. In India the rat-tailed radish is grown for its fleshy, edible seed pods. In Egypt and the Middle East another form is grown only for its greens. While there is probably nothing unwholesome about American radish greens, they are far less palatable than the leaves of turnips, beets and members of the cabbage clan.

Radishes are usually either round or elongated though some olive shaped radishes can also be found. Round radishes range in size from that of a marble to that of a basketball. Long ones range from the length of a finger to that of a forearm. All radishes, but particularly Spring radishes, are best known for their snappy bite. Most of the enzyme- creating heat comes from its skin, which reacts with another substance to form mustard oil. Hamilton says the bite of this mustard oil increases dramatically in hot weather. The same plant will produce a much hotter radish when it’s 90 degrees than when it’s 60. Of course, peeling reduces that tremendously.

Some flavor aesthetes believe that same enzyme stimulates dormant taste buds on the tongue, thus making other foods taste better. To test that theory, I asked five people to judge iced teas. Between the first and second taste test, they were told to cleanse their palettes with crackers; between the second the third test, with sliced radishes. In actuality, they were given the exact same tea three times in a row. Yet four out of the five rated the third one as either “superior,” or “vastly superior” to the others.

Growing Tips

Soil Preparation and Fertilizing


Radishes need loose, well-drained soil so their roots can expand. Crusty soil causes misshapen roots, so be sure to remove rocks, trash and sticks from the planting bed. Spade the soil 8 to 12 inches deep, turning each shovel over completely. Some experts suggest you scatter 1 cup fertilizer such as 10-20-10 on the soil for each 1feet of row to be planted. Rake the soil until smooth and work up beds.

Planting

Plant as soon as the soil can be worked.

Make a furrow half an inch deep down the center of a ridge. Plant seeds half an inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows. Cover lightly with loose soil and sprinkle with water. Plants should be up in 4 to 6 days.

Begin thinning radishes when roots start expanding. Pull every other plant. Larger ones can be eaten. Those left in the row will get larger without being crowded.
For a steady supply, plant 8 to 10 days apart. Most will be ready for harvest 4 to 5 weeks from planting. Keep radishes free of weeds. Scratch the soil around the plants lightly to keep the soil from crusting. If it does not rain, water heavily once a week.

Since radishes mature so quickly, bugs and diseases usually are not a problem. After the radishes start going to seed, pull and place them in a compost pile if the soil is to be replanted soon. If the soil is to be left idle, old radishes and tops can be spaded into the soil.

Harvesting

Pull radishes when they are young and tender. If left in the ground too long, they get tough, hot tasting and stringy. Cut off the tops and small roots for compost.
Radishes will keep 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Types

Spring

Red Globe, Cherry Belle -- The most popular and commonly found radishes in America. They mature in as little as three weeks.

Easter egg - Varies in color from a light shade of pink to dark crimson red, and provides a milder flavor.

French Breakfast or Flambo- Has an elongated shape that can grow to some three inches in length, displaying a bright red outer skin, which turns white at the root base. It turns quite bitter in hot weather.

Rose Heart, Watermelon, Beauty Heart, China Rose, Shinrimei, Misato, Asian Red Meat, or Xin Li Mei - The intensity of these contrary radishes decreases as they mature. Generally, the flesh is hotter toward the outside and sweeter toward the center, with white outer skin at the top, green shoulders and a pink base that ranges from a bright red to magenta. Khanh Hamilton says melon types are just as good raw as cooked.

Icicle - Has the shape of winter radishes, which are more elongated due to later harvest.

Winter

Daikon, Mooli, Chinese white radish and Japanese radish - Long, white and carrot-shaped, with a milder taste than red radishes. Daikon can be cooked for a long time without losing its flavor and texture. It can be sliced or grated for use in salads or with sushi. It is most popular pickled.

Long Black Spanish, Neckarruhn’s (White of Red), Szechuan Red, Hild’s Blue or Nero Tondo - Other than the dazzling colors, these all look like carrots. Glorious outside pigments cover white inner flesh providing horseradish flavors. With skin removed, these can be sautéed, braised or added to stir fry dishes.

Round Black Spanish or Nero Tondos - Other than shape, these are like long black Spanish. Jill Beebout, who grows organically in Columbia, Iowa, says they perform better in hot weather than other blacks because they resist bolting.
White Strasbourg - Black skin and snow white flesh. Famously served on the German-France border with boiled beef.

Recipe

Beaseley's Radish Salad

Now Chef at Harrah's in Kansas City, Rob Beasley owned several Iowa restaurants in which he used as much fresh and local produce as anyone in Central Iowa. Rob serves this salad with as many exotic radish varieties as local farmers can provide. He recommends it as a side for fish dishes.

2 cups assorted radishes
1 cup arugula (rough chop)
Half cup Niman Ranch bacon (lardons)
Quarter cup roasted garlic oil
One teaspoon kosher salt
One teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Quarter half of the radishes, cut the other half thickly.
Toss all ingredients together.