On Radishes

Last week Mom’s Many Projects posted a great question:

When do you know the radishes are done? I’ve planted them for the first time, but have no idea when to pull them up!

I bet there’s a very good scientific answer to that question, like the leaves turn a certain color or start to wilt a certain way.  Or when the wind blows from the south at 4 o’clock on the last Thursday of the month.

But since I am just a beginner gardener, I’ll give you my layman’s answer:  I can see them!

I only planted radishes for the first time last fall.  Radishes are a great crop for beginner gardeners because you get quick gratification.  They can go from seed to harvest in 30 days.  The quickest of anything you can plant I think.

I’ve planted them again this spring and no matter how I plant them, the red tops of the radishes poke up out of the ground.  So I can clearly see when they are big enough to pull up.  Observe:

The picture is a little dark, but hopefully you can see the blue arrow pointing to the red top of the radish sticking out of the ground.  I also mentioned before that I plant radishes and carrots in the same row.  The little green feathery plant poking up in between the radishes is a carrot top.

Here’s a little bit closer shot:

I don’t know if I’m planting the radishes wrong or if this is just how they grow.  But I’ve done several plantings between last fall and this spring and they’ve all grown this way.

An even closer shot, though the mud from the recent rain is covering up the pretty red color.  And the radishes are not as big as they look in the pictures.  They are about the size of a nickel.

Radishes can be planted in both spring and fall.  I plant short rows is succession, about a week or two apart.  That way I have radishes continuously ready to eat instead of having a whole bunch ready at once.  They have been really easy for me to grow.  I’ve had very little trouble with them.

If anyone else’s radishes do not poke their shoulders out of the ground, please chime in on when you know to pull them up.

Now I have a date with a riding lawn mower.  Peace friends!