Backyard Gardening: First Radish From the Garden

Just before I left on a long trip to the Northwest (cross your fingers for the continued health of my garden for me, please...) I pulled up my first garden radish. It was a tiny, late-planted little guy, with a long skinny root and a plucky green top. As modest as this first harvest was, it was a thrill to see it and remember that after all the watering, composting, weeding, lugging of mulch and tying of stems, things are growing down there.

Yes, my one baby radish (Shunkyo Semi-Long) was plucked a little prematurely from the ground, but it was a treat to see its tender radish root and eat the precociously spicy greens. And it's a good encouragement that, even though I didn't get any spring crops planted, the summer and fall crops will yield quite a bounty.

What about you? Are you snipping peas and pulling carrots out of your garden? What's growing right now?

(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (5)

I harvested some of my French radishes this weekend. They didn't have any flavor though! Disappointing. But they sure were pretty in my salad.

FYI- a good way to tell when radishes are ready to harvest- see if their "bums" are peeking thru the soil. You can push the soil around them and if not ready, pat the soil back into place.

posted by tallsarah on June 23rd 2009 at 9:55am
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Congratulations! Sometimes it's fun to just root around and see that things are growing in there, even if they're not really ready yet.

Radishes plump up quickly, so it looks yours should be ready within the next couple weeks. Keep us updated! I think I speak for most gardeners in saying that I love love love getting a peek into other people's gardens.

- Amelia of Gradually Greener

posted by GreenCayennes on June 23rd 2009 at 10:31am
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We missed the window for early plantings too. But that's ok, we're knee deep in nightly strawberry picking, and watching the blueberries deepen in color- they're so fat they look ready to explode.

Cheyenne

posted by pdx-R on June 23rd 2009 at 12:41pm
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ooh! I harvested my first radishes last week, too! Here's what I did with them: http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2009/06/17/in-season-cooking-radish-avocado-salsa/

posted by poweredbytofu on June 23rd 2009 at 12:51pm
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spinach season up here, and the lettuce is ready too...every thing else is still too little.

posted by Hanna on June 23rd 2009 at 5:02pm
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