Radish -- French Breakfast (a fancy name for a plain radish!)
Written: Aug 20 '08 (Updated Aug 20 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: easy to grow, great germination rate, mild taste, inexpensive, companion plant to cucumbers
Cons: best when eaten young (so stagger your growing cycles)
The Bottom Line: A delicious radish that has benefits other than taste.
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| dlstewart's Full Review: Radish, French Breakfast |
Every year I plant a huge vegetable garden. It’s fun and very rewarding when it’s time to harvest. One of the vegetables I’ve been planting off and on for years is the French Breakfast Radish.
Description
This radish is not round. It is elongated, somewhat resembling a carrot’s shape. It is primarily red with a bit of white toward the tip. These radishes grow 2” to 3” long and are about 3/4” wide. They take about 25 days to mature, and prefer sun.
Planting
I always plant radish seed directly into the garden soil once the soil is warm enough. Radishes prefer cool weather, so I can plant these in early Spring. One great thing about this radish seed is that the seeds are easily visible. This makes the seed easy to plant since you can see where the seed is dropped in the ground.
First I prep the soil by fertilizing it and breaking up the soil so that the ground is not compacted. Also, remove any stones so that the radishes grow straight. If you have a small garden, or are planting the radishes in short rows, a hand-held tool works well. I have one that does double duty: it has a trowel on one end and a cultivator on the other end.
After the ground is prepared, use the edge of the trowel (or grab a stick) and draw it along the ground to make a trough. The seed is only planted a 1/2” deep, so keep the ditch shallow.
When planting the seed, space them several inches apart. Radishes are easy to grow, and just about every seed will sprout. Planting them a few inches apart will help prevent the need for thinning the seedlings. Once the row is planted, gently push the sides of the trough over the row, burying the seed. Keep the radishes watered until they sprout. Once the plants are growing, they can withstand not being watered every day.
I will plant radishes several times during the growing season. This way all the radishes don’t mature at the same time.
My Experiences
Radishes are a great way to introduce children to gardening. They are so easy to grow! Also, the radishes grow more quickly than other vegetables. In less than a month, you’ll be harvesting.
These radishes are best picked when they are young. To know if they are ready to pick, push the dirt away from the top of the radish. The “shoulders” of the radish are the broadest part of the vegetable, so you’ll be able to judge if they are large enough to pick.
They are crisp with a mild radish flavor when picked young. Let the radishes grow beyond their prime, and they will taste hot and have a woody (unpleasant) texture. These radishes are easy to slice, and there is more to one radish since they are elongated and not round. I enjoy adding radishes to salads. I also like radish sliced atop tuna fish sandwiches.
Radishes also have a fairly long shelf life as long as I keep them in a bowl of water. Pick the radishes and remove the leaves and any long root at their bottom. Clean off any dirt. Fill a bowl with water, and add the radishes. If the water begins to look cloudy, change it. The radishes will keep well in the refrigerator for weeks using this method.
Not only do I enjoy eating radishes, but they also serve a useful purpose in my garden. I love growing cucumbers. Cucumber Beetles also love the cucumbers in my garden. I’ve found that if I plant radishes along the outside boundary of the cucumber patch … the beetles pretty much ignore the cucumbers. For some reason, the beetles do not like the radishes and won’t bother the cucumbers when they are near radishes.
Purchasing
I bought my latest French Breakfast Radish seeds from Thompson & Morgan. They sell a packet of 1,000 seeds for $2.55. Burpee sells this radish for $2.65, and there are 400 seeds in a packet. As you can see, it pays to shop around for value.
Summary
These French Breakfast Radishes are easy to grow and a treat to eat. They are a definite “must” for my garden, whether for eating or for keeping my cucumbers safe from marauding insects. Just make sure to eat them young.
I hope you found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Please read my other reviews:
Bean – Purple Teepee
Marketmore Cucumber
Zephyr Squash
Zucchini Italiano Largo
Park Seeds
Jiffy Square Peat Pots
Upside-Down Tomato Garden
Earth Box
Rubbermaid Big Max Storage Shed
Black and Decker Cordless Rear Bag Mulching Lawnmower
Copyright 2008 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
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