Radishes are a crunchy spring delight

Among the delights of my porch pots are radishes. They are among the most satisfying vegetables you can grow because they happen so fast. Three or four weeks, depending on the variety, the conditions and the weather, will get you from a seed to a peppery, crunchy snack.
Apart from baby greens such as lettuce and spinach eaten when young, there's hardly another edible plant that comes so close to instant gratification.

A lot of people don't plant radishes because they dislike the overbearing pungency of the large radishes they occasionally encounter as restaurant garnishes or in relish trays. But there is a wide range of radish varieties, from the very mild, sweet and barely peppery to extremely zippy. They aren't all red; there are purple and white ones, too. If you browse catalog Web sites such as Cook's Garden, Renee's Garden Seeds, Johnny's Selected Seeds and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds you can find a radish to suit you. I like them pretty snappy and enjoy their bright, fresh crunch.

Mild radishes are a great crop for children because they get something to eat from a seed so quickly. But don't choose a strong variety that will be a yucky vegetable turnoff. Most radishes get stronger-flavored as they age, but children are unlikely to leave them in the ground that long.

The ones I planted in the porch pots are a French variety with a white bottom, which, if I can bring myself to leave them alone long enough, will become more thumblike than round. Sort of like fingerling radishes. That makes them easier to slice; you get more fairly uniform slices per radish.

Another thing many people don't seem to know about radishes is that you can cook them. I like to slice them about 1/8 inch thick and then saute them in butter until there are just touches of brown. Add a little salt and pepper, and you're golden. Very French, I'm told. You also can toss radishes with olive oil and roast them alongside a chicken as you might carrots, potatoes or turnips. The bright red color of radishes will fade during cooking but they take on a sweetness and their pungency often is moderated.

The leaves also are edible. They share the peppery quality of the roots. When very young, just a couple of inches long, they can be added to salads. When they get older, they will need a little cooking. Young radish greens can be simply sauteed. But I often steam greens in the microwave in a loosely covered container with a tablespoon or two of water (just briefly for young ones, up to 10 minutes for tough fall and winter greens such as kale) until they are barely wilted but still bright green. Then I saute them briefly in oil in which I have already sauteed garlic and sprinkle on a bit lemon juice on for a finish.

Of course one of the great virtues of the radish is that it can be planted very early in the spring, in the first week of April or so, as soon as the ground can be worked. Like other early spring crops, the seeds take a while to germinate, but once they do, they gallop. You can direct-sow radish greens in a Chicago spring in the same place where you plan to plant your tomatoes or peppers and squeeze out a crop before the soil is warm enough for the summer vegetables. Radishes really need full sun, so they are maturing a bit slowly in my porch containers, where they are shaded by the balustrade.

When you pull radishes, it's wise to cut the greens from the roots and store the two parts separately. A big bunch of radishes with greens is photogenic, but as long as the root is attached to the top it will keep trying to supply the plant with water and nutrients. Sever that connection and the roots will keep longer--which is why, in grocery stores, radishes usually are sold without their tops.

Photo: The first young radishes from my porch pots.


Got a garden question? I recommend you call or e-mail the Plant Clinic of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Master Gardeners of the University of Illinois Extension or the Plant Information Service of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.

All contents of this post are copyright Beth Botts. Feel free to link or share a brief excerpt with a link, but please do not reproduce photos or any other part of this blog without my express permission.