Radishes

There's nothing complicated about growing radishes. You just put them in the ground and let them grow. They prefer cooler weather, so they're best planted in the spring and fall. For me, the trick is remembering to plant them at all! Oh, and they're best done in staggered plantings, because unless you plan on pickling or ferementing them, there are only so many radishes you can eat in a week.

I did finally get some into the ground this year around mid-August. I didn't plant many, but they were quite delicious. And I decided to leave two of them in the ground to go to seed. (I'm all about the seeds this year.)

Well, they far exceeded my wildest expectations. Here's what they looked like a couple of weeks ago:

You can't tell from this photo, but each of these two plants has at least a hundred seed pods, and each of those pods has about 5 seeds.

One of them finally died off and is hanging in the basement to finish drying. The other is thriving - vibrant green and still flowering - despite several hard frosts and a sprinkling of snow. I may have enough seeds to last the next 5 years!

Then I found out from Bryce that you can eat the pods when they're young and tender, and they taste just like radishes. Looking forward to that next spring! I'll also try fermenting the young pods. Bet they'd be a lot like capers.

And for scale, here's Mike in the kitchen holding up one plant by the root: