Radishes, Tumeric and Weeds

Growing up, my father was the one that loved radishes.  It became a family food story about how much Dad loved his radishes.  Many of the years that he had his little backyard gardens, radishes were one of the six or seven vegetables he planted.  The rest of the family was neutral about the vegetable, early in the season, fine but later when they got hot and woody, we all dropped it immediately.  There is a well known chef that served for his first course, a platter of radishes, sea salt and buttered bread.  Now that would have impressed my Father.  I am going to see later this spring if I can manage that appetizer.

I have over the years tried growing radishes but really find it one of the hardest crops to grow.  They are very attractive for some root maggots and I seems to harvest this variety!  My interest has lessen over the years.

Recently a woman that tests vegetables for a national magazine for this area of the country lectured at our local fruit society.  She talked about the love of her Chinese heritage for radishes.  The giant long Daikon radish, Black Spanish, the Green Meat and finally the Watermelon, red meat radish. These large ones can be considered winter radishes.  Asian treat radish as a vegetable that can be used in soup, much like our tradition of using an onion.

There are the spring varieties that go in the ground now and probably the favorite is French breakfast.  All of them love cool soil and the spring rains.  This year, I plan focusing on planting and eating more radishes.  I know that the watermelon one sliced is delightful to see on a plate and easy to enjoy.

I had to look up the nutritional and it surprised me, http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/26. Imagine a cup a radish as good as a banana for potassium.  This list of vitamins was long, new respect for the humble vegetable.

Turmeric in its root form looks alot  like ginger.  After being peeled it looks like a small carrots, the fresh tastes very mild unlike the powered form.  It is uncommon  but our local co-op carries it and aa Indian cusine as become more and more available this root will become a common sight.   I plan to put one of these little roots in a pot and see if I can grow my own for at less part of the year.  The magic of turmeric is well known for brain cells health, know anyone that doesn't need a boost in that direction?

Lastly, it is now thought that a few weeds in the garden feed insects so it is best not to pull all of your weeds.  It is nice to feel more relaxed about my weeds.