Recipe: Radish Relish

If you like homegrown radishes, and are disappointed to not have them through the summer, try growing a rat-tailed radish or two. I grew them last year; this year one volunteered in the salad garden. Each plant produced bushels of seed pods-- the edible part of this radish. Knowing this, I searched for some way to preserve the harvest. 

Rat-tailed radishes

I found three recipes that looked interesting and sent them to Mr. Big Food who decided that we'd start with Radish Relish. Very good! 

Recipe below.

Lettuce volunteer

Kagraner Sommer lettuce: "58 days — It is a good mid-season variety as it is slow to bolt in the summer heat. Originally from Germany, the heads are light green and medium sized. Each packet contains one gram, which is approximately 500 to 600 seeds." Seed from Victory Seeds.

Oakleaf lettuce: I've had one large packet of these seeds for years and they keep germinating!

Butterhead Buttercrunch lettuce: "65 days. Buttercrunch is a vigorous grower with a creamy yellow interior, buttery, flavor and tender texture. Small heads are perfect for a single-serve salad. Loves moist but not soggy soil. The compact size makes it a good container variety." Seed from Botanical Interests

Each spring, I plant my salad garden in the same raised planters. It's intense! As in, "intensive gardening"-- getting the most out of a given space: lettuce, celery, radishes, spinach, rat-tail radishes, fall radishes, cherry tomatoes, micro-greens, basil, oregano, garden cress, zinnias... . 

Today's harvest (UPDATED: We did it!)

No photos. Sorry. Maybe I'll update after we have supper. It's some chicken casserole dish that's already baking.

We had a very busy week. I wasn't able to spend nearly as much time in the garden as I usually do, especially since I knew we wouldn't be around much late in the week and so I spent one day cleaning the house. And Mr. Big Food wasn't able to do his chores, either. So we were outside today. Nice day. Also, Daughter C is here today to take care of Rocky. (I spend too much time with Rocky.)

Today I picked 

• two three watermelons (one is rotten so we're going to shoot it)
• a few beets and 
• baby lima beans 

(I don't know what he's going to do with the beats, but the limas are going in a crock pot Tuesday morning. Limas are not called for, but we have too few to freeze so we might as well eat them.)

• a little French melon (not sure it's going to make the cut; we'll look at it tonight
• jalapeno peppers

That's right. We are pickling tonight. Pickling jalapeno peppers.

• and a nice batch of cherry tomatoes.

And I almost forgot the white winter radishes. I pulled a handful of white carrots on Thursday.  We actually have a lot of radishes on hand right now. I should announce this.

That was satisfying. And now, while supper is in the oven, we will clean the kitchen. This will be satisfying in it's own sort of drudgery way.

I cannot put it off any longer. 

UPDATE

Preparing to freeze some French melon

We did it! We got just about everything done. The only thing that remains for this evening is stewing the tomatoes. But the melons (there were two, not one, aas I reported earlier) and tomatillos-- which I think I forgot to mention yesterday-- are in the freezer. The jalapeno are pickled, as are the two quarts of green cherry tomatoes that I picked just as it was getting dark. 

The melon are 

Melon Charentais Heirloom Seed

Cucumis melo (Reticulatus group)

90 days. Charentais melons aren’t found in your grocery store — they’re too fragile to ship. A true cantaloupe, the fruits have smooth skin with light green stripes, maturing to creamy yellow. The delightfully scented, creamy orange flesh is filled with unsurpassed flavor. One of the sweetest rewards of home gardening!

 from Botanical Interests and they going to taste sooo good in January!


Good day. Big life.

Tasty: Daikon Miyashige White Radish

Daikon Miyashige White Orgnaic Radishes

Each of these is 6-8" long. Very tasty... not too strong at all. Seed from Botanical Interests. Here's their blurb:

Radish Daikon Miyashige White Organic Heirloom Seed

Raphanus sativus

60 days. Young shredded daikon radishes are often used in sushi, but their light, crunchy, slightly spicy flavor is a unique addition to many other dishes. Mature daikon is pickled or cooked; add to stir-fries or soups. Daikon is a “winter radish,” requiring a longer time to develop than spring radishes, and cool temperatures to mature the edible root. To grow successfully, sow in mid- to late summer or early fall.
This packet plants three 5 foot rows.

Let's think this through. Fifteen feet of 7" radishes is A LOT. Fortunately, if stored in a cool dry place, radish seeds have a shelf life of about five years. (More information of seed storage longevities here.)