I used a $13 seed mix with 12 different radish varieties included, bought on Amazon. The daikon and red arrow were the 2 top performers. I saved 5 of each, 10 total roots and replanted within minutes of pulling them out of the ground. The ground is moist and accommodating right now. I will not water them. Maybe they will rebound from this and produce seed in the spring.
We are going to pickle radish. We have no idea what we are doing when it comes to pickling.
I don’t even like radish. I hope picked radish taste good. I decided to try a radish project because they grow so easy and quick. The project goals are to breed a variety that is adapted to Mississippi or other southern humid climates. I also want a radish that grows well in clay. I want a radish that doesn’t taste like a radish. I want sweet and not spicy. I am hoping to get a mutation into something better than we have now.
Last night I boiled and mashed some radishes. Then I added some butter and fresh cilantro from the garden. I added some leftover diced hamburger patties to it. I felt like a poor peasant eating what the army left behind because they didn’t want to eat it.
Sandor Katz’s book Wild Fermentation is a good place to start with pickling veggies like radish. There is a lot of info online too for starting your fermentation journey. Every year I pickle extra radish with other veggies like sliced onions or carrots. Use whatever you have that’s fresh and you like. The mixed vegetables always seem to do better than using just one. My snow pea pods and onions are still being used in salads. The pods stay crunchy for months when stored in a cool place.
For sweet and not spicy the daikons are really good. And you get a lot of radish per plant. I’ve never actually cooked a radish so your experience was new to me.
I have been treating carrots, radishes, turnips, and beets the same way. I planted in the fall and hope to get seed the following spring or summer. Most of what I am doing is not researched. Part of the fun for me is exploring and discovering. I am likely reinventing the wheel and making unnecessary mistakes along the way.
They actually tasted great. I am happy I have found a way to enjoy such an easy crop to grow. Did you keep some of your radish seed harvest for yourself? I’ll send back your seeds if you want to grow them.
The beets on the other hand tasted good boiled but not pickled. I am surprised radish worked better.
I haven’t eaten any radishes though. I’ve got some that should be big enough to eat pretty soon and was hoping someone found a way to make them taste good.
Pickled beets are one of my favorite foods on the planet but I’ve had trouble growing beets. Radishes just jump out of the ground and thrive.
