the radish spirit

like most people i did not like radishes one bit when i was a kid! that sharp peppery shot in the back of your throat that left tears in your eyes and a nasty aftertaste wasn't exactly my first choice as a standard addition to the salad. but those dishes were popular before the arrival of feta cheese in south africa and long before anyone knew that a radish could be used for anything else.

luckily i grew up!

i must admit that my new found admiration for this striking vegetable started while reading "Setting free the bears" by John Irving (one of my favorites!). in this book one of the main characters has a lovely habit of stealing salt shakers from every place he visits so that he can enjoy his daily lunch of radishes out of a paper bag. so being your average sucker romantic i found this to be one of the most original quirks ever assigned to a literary character and naturally had to try a radish again.. you know, to live the story and surprisingly they suited my prejudiced adult palate.

another equally enchanting reference is found in the film "Spirited Away" which shows a radish spirit helping out the main character chihiro. the radish features heavily in japanese food so one would expect to see it around at one point or another, but i was completely taken by how calm and wise the representation of this vegetable was illustrated showing a respect that is given only to the most basic of our staple foods.

today i eat them with everything from cheese sandwiches to stews and have found that i cannot live without them anymore. this craving also finally pushed me over the edge and i had to plant some for my personal use.
i must say that growing radishes must be one of the easiest things i have ever done! they sprout in 3 or 4 days and you can start picking about 3 weeks later, the perfect thing for entry level gardeners to try out.

1. grow from seed in well turned soil rather than trays and make sure to give them plenty of water.
2. i covered them with a raised wire mesh for the first week or so to keep the birds away, but i tend to do that with most plants grown from seed..
3. other than that the only issue with this plant will be that you will run out of them pretty quickly, be sure to plant a small square every week or two rather than sowing only one bed.
4. also, they are much sharper than store bought radishes, so test out different varieties until you find the ones you like the most.
5. radishes can be grown as easily in containers as in gardens so they're great for small spaces also.