Growing & Harvesting Radishes

We lay out the radish row the same way we do the rest of our garden — a stake at each end with a string pulled tightly between them. Then we sow the seeds along that line.

The string gives us a simple guide while we're planting, but it's even more helpful once everything starts coming up. When the garden is still young and there are tiny green plants everywhere, a straight row makes it much easier to tell what we planted from what we didn't.

Radishes don't make us wait long. Before much else is happening in the garden, we usually have a row of green tops telling us exactly where they are.

We don't always catch every radish at exactly the right time. Every once in a while, one stays in the ground longer than we intended and comes out looking more like this.

That's part of growing a garden around regular life. There are practices, appointments, chores, and plenty of other things happening, and sometimes a radish gets an extra week in the ground.

Bigger isn't always better with radishes. If we leave them too long, the texture can get tougher and the flavor can change. So when the roots look ready, we've learned not to put off pulling them for too long.

There's something satisfying about pulling that first row. We work our way down, shake off some of the dirt, and usually lay the radishes right beside us in the grass as we go.

It isn't styled or tidy. It's simply what harvest looks like here before everything makes its way inside.

Once we're finished, they head to the kitchen to be washed and trimmed. And after waiting weeks for something to come out of the garden, the first harvest never seems to last very long.

Radishes aren't the biggest harvest we grow, but they're one of the first signs that the garden is starting to give something back.

They're simple to sow, quick to grow, and there's something pretty hard to beat about pulling that first bright red root out of the dirt. We'll keep making room for a row.