Discover Unique Varieties of Radishes for the Garden

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PHOTO: RICK WETHERBEE
With Rat Tail podding radishes you eat the seed pods, not the roots.

Learn about these unique varieties of radishes to grow in your garden.

Forget those wimpy little radishes found on relish plates. They pale in comparison to the unique varieties of radishes you can grow. Consider sweet, rose-fleshed, green-skinned “Shinrimei” radishes, zesty Japanese daikons or even crunchy, mustard-infused radish pods.

Some weigh up to 5 pounds apiece. Others offer a color explosion. Still others impart cooked dishes with subtle flavors that are the hallmark of some ethnic foods. Now these are radishes!

Esteemed by the Greek god Apollo, cultivated by Egyptian pyramid builders and eaten for breakfast by American settlers, the radish has been around forever. It was prescribed by physicians to prevent scurvy, used by herbalists to ward off women’s chatter, and salted or pickled to accompany food and drink throughout recorded time. The radish is still so revered there is a Night of the Radish — La Noche de los Rabanos — every December 23 in Oaxaca, Mexico. Local farmers grow giant white winter radishes, which are carved into sculptures worthy of a museum. Radish bullfighters, radish nativity scenes, radish Madonnas and more line the village square, while merry makers dance and eat — radish tamales, radish empanadas and radish pickles — until midnight, when one radish sculpture is awarded the grand prize. Sculpting a radish may not be your passion, but growing a few of the exotic types certainly can liven up your garden and dinner table.

Choose Cool Conditions When Growing Radishes

  • Published on Aug 1, 2002
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