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Hey Reader,
A quick note before we get into the post. I’d love to see a photo of your garden this time of year. See the Plotter’s Commons after the article!
What do the French eat for breakfast? Surely it’s more than just radishes. Perhaps a croissant with black coffee, some French Breakfast Radishes, and of course a cigarette to wash it all down. Radishes are a great crop, especially for beginners. They are likely to be your first harvest in the spring, giving you a hearty salad made from the root and leaf alike.
Radishes are truly radical. They are the first crop harvested for many a beginner gardener, enchanting you with the pure joy of plucking a fully formed root from the earth. Radishes are the first step to realizing how fresh homegrown vegetables pack so much more flavor than you can find at the grocery store.
Like us gardeners, this humble crop comes in all shapes and sizes. The classic French Breakfast in two tones of white and pink can be found nearly everywhere, and for good reason as it’s delicious. The long white Daikon radish finds it’s way into dishes raw, pickled and stir fried. The beauty heart radish adds a visual punch to any salad or stir fry. Meanwhile Red Rat’s Tail radishes are grown for their spicy bean like pods rather than their roots. A quick glance through a seed catalog brings a spark of joy in all the different types of radishes.
The ways to eat a radish are seemingly endless, but I recommend the first bite of the year be in the garden after a quick blast with the hose to get the dirt off. It’s a true start to spring in the garden. Once you have a basket full of them, you can add them fresh to salads, roast them, stew them in butter, and more. The New York Times Cooking website has 281 recipes that use these spicy little roots.
The tasty radish is also democratic. It thrives without a big garden, fertilizers, raised beds, and tractors. It’s easy to grow and a middle finger to a global food system that delivers bland and overpriced food. This plant is the first step to reclaiming your food sovereignty in just 20-30 days.
Field Notes:
The native garden is growing very quickly. I’m really learning the benefit of planting in the fall from another gardener’s divisions instead of nursery pots. That and the plants are well suited to the growing conditions being native to the region. The flower garden meanwhile is teeming with weeds. I swear every time I visit they triple despite my best efforts!
Last week’s article was a DIY project on how to create copper plant tags. I made some for the article and I love the charm they add to the garden plot.
Golden Alexanders blooming in the native plant bed. I’m quite happy with the native plant “free garden", named as such due to all the plants being free from Nextdoor.
Plotter’s Commons:
Next week I’d love to do an issue where I show you all of the other reader’s gardens! To participate just reply to this email or put a picture in the Facebook group with your location. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bulletin Board
The winner of this month’s raffle is Julie! Thank you for being a founder of The Plot! Our founders are helping me keep the lights on as we grow this publication. You can upgrade below to be automatically entered in our monthly raffles.
This month’s raffle win! Two flower packets and a sticker. Thank you for your support, dear founders!
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Written for 494 radical gardeners. 💌
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Until next Thursday,
Ken Welch
Ken Welch is a garden writer with a very serious degree in Horticulture. When his city lacked a community garden, he helped build one. He teaches new gardeners how to grow their own food.
Cibus Est Imperium | Food is Power