radishes

The Radish Capital of America

21 January, 2021 by amygwh

When we moved to Long Beach, MS, we did not know that it had once been known as the Radish Capital of America. That information appears in the history of the town as posted on the website of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Museum of Photography.

Had we known, we might have tried to move here sooner. My Joe loves radishes.

I did some hunting in the old newspaper archives (online) of the Library of Congress to see what additional information I could find about the radishes here. This is some of what I found:

From the Mississippi Gulf Coast the Northern market is supplied with the early radish and lettuce, beans and potatoes. Long Beach is called the radish town. The early radish built up this agricultural community, and prosperity smiles upon this well-built-up town, with its thrifty and enterprising citizens from the North and West, who have invested both their money and brawn in the soil.
The Sea Coast Echo, October 2, 1909, in Bay St. Louis, MS

The truckers of Longbeach and other coast points are shipping a great deal of radishes, lettuce and other produce to Northern markets and receiving handsome figures for it. They are in a position to reach markets early and get the highest possible prices. Think of Mississippi shipping vegetables in January, and that, too, raised without the aid of glass or other artificial methods. It is a great old State and the sooner our people fully appreciate that fact the better for all concerned.
The Oxford Eagle, February 1, 1906, in Oxford, MS — note: “truckers” refers to truck farmers

Long Beach, Miss., March 12 – Thirteen cars of vegetables were shipped from this parish last week, radishes, lettuce, shallots, carrots, turnips and cabbage making the variety.
St. Tammany Farmer, March 18, 1911, St. Tammany, LA — note: “cars” refers to train cars, not automobiles

The Long Beach truck farmers are rushing shipments of radishes to the Northern markets for Thanksgiving Day.
The Port Gibson Reveille, November 18, 1909, Port Gibson, MS

And then there was this great little story:

Red radishes, four round types and three long types, in a shallow basket — The long ones are ‘Cincinnati Market’ radishes.

Long Beach, Miss., is the home of the radish king in the Mississippi Valley. His name is Richard Inglis, and five years ago he visited Mississippi on an excursion from Youngstown, O. Having his eyes with him, he perceived such wasted opportunities that he paid $6 an acre for 20 acres of sandy loam which seemed suited for vegetables. Since then he has purchased 200 acres adjoining his original purchase, but he had to pay $35 an acre as the penalty for demonstrating to the natives what the land was really worth. There is more money in radishes than in anything else, because they mature in 20 to 50 days, according to the weather and the amount of fertilizer, and four crops can be raised on the same ground during the same season. Smith and Inglis have raised as high as 100 barrels of radishes to the acre, counting 600 bunches of five each to the barrel.
The Democratic Advocate, April 9, 1909, Westminster, MD

The radish that was grown here back in the early 1900s, that boosted the livelihoods of so many farmers, was not one of the small round radishes that we mostly see in stores today. Instead, it was a longer radish.

In 2018, MS Extension published an article about a search for the radish variety that made Long Beach famous; MS Extension Horticulturist Gary Bachman determined that the ‘Cincinnati Market Radish’ is the likeliest candidate. Not too surprisingly, after I read that article last spring, when I was learning about the history of Long Beach, I ordered a packet of seeds for the Long Beach ‘Cincinnati Market’ radishes.

Other information gleaned from the old newspaper pages indicated that most of the truck farms and market gardens were on the north side of town. The soil there is more suited to farming than is the sand dune where my garden is located. However, my sandy yard has produced an abundance of radishes for us in our first year of gardening here.

I think I will be able to harvest good radishes from the yard at least 8 months out of the year, possibly more. The problem months will be the hot ones, in summer.

My copy of the Whole Seed Catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds arrived today. The radish section is full of beautiful radish varieties. I will be re-ordering ‘Malaga’ radish seeds this year, because they are delicious and my current seed packet is almost empty, but I am going to hand the catalog to Joe to let him pick a couple more varieties to try.

Early December Garden

6 December, 2019 by amygwh

My garden is still full of crops that were planted in late summer, and we have been enjoying them bit by bit. The most abundant plant group in my fall/winter garden this year is the chicory group; these crops include escarole, frisée (an endive), and radicchio.

Other crops still coming in, bit by bit, are the carrots, radishes, lettuce, parsley, and winter onions (harvested as slender, green onions). I am still waiting for a beet to be large enough to bring in. The beet patch contains a few that are getting close.

The “bit by bit” style of harvest is partly because the crops are all heirlooms, which means they weren’t bred for uniform speed of growth. They all were chosen for flavor, not uniformity, which means my garden has a kind of wild look. We are really, though, enjoying the good food.

Tips of broad green leaves, growing upright and packed together in a bed of escarole and radicchio. — Looking across the tops of the escaroles and radicchios.

In the garden

Crops in the garden right now are growing well in our recent cool weather. When we had those few much-colder days, back in mid-November, down into the low twenties fahrenheit, I covered most of my garden to keep the plants a little warmer.

The wire supports that I set into the garden to support the spun row covers through those cold days are still in place. When the next hard freeze comes, I am ready.

Until then, my only work in the garden — besides harvesting good food — is pulling out a bit of chickweed and henbit, two common winter weeds that I snack on as I pull them and also bring inside to share with my pet rabbits.

These are some of the crops in my garden today:

Leaves from the trees are filtering down through the plants, and the plan is for those leaves to remain in the garden. All those old leaves will add a little insulation for the plants and soil in the next hard freeze.

Why so many chicories?

Chicories are my current major crop-group for a couple of reasons.

One is that, when I have been in Italy, eating at restaurants, one commonly served side dish has been cooked greens. At first, I thought these were all spinach, but a lot of the time they were actually chicory/escarole (I found out by asking).

In addition, the little local grocery store in Montepulciano, where we stayed, sells several kinds of radicchios and escaroles all summer long. Growing so many kinds of chicories keeps memories of some great meals in my mind, and it also brings an Italian flavor to more of our meals at home.

Another reason for growing chicories is that they are not very bothered by pests and diseases. At least, so far they have been trouble-free.

Growing chicories in fall versus in spring

I have grown some kinds of chicories before now, but those were planted as spring crops, not as fall/winter crops. The different results of growing in these different seasons has been interesting.

One main difference that I have seen is that the heading-types, like the red radicchio Palla rossa, are slower to form those tight, central heads when grown as a fall crop.

However, the fall-grown plants are larger than I’ve seen in my spring-grown crops.

Other goings-on

I obviously have not been keeping up a weekly writing schedule on my website these past couple of months.

One reason is that we have had many visitors this fall — two sisters-in-law, then a brother, then another sister-in-law, then my youngest son and his partner. Being able to spend time with so many family members has been glorious! In a little more than a week, our oldest son will visit from Colorado, which will also be glorious. Then, our only guests for awhile will be pets of friends who are traveling for the winter holiday.

Front cover of a book, with the title "Garden planner and notebook" on a background of green leaves.

The other main reason for the lack of writing on this website is that I was writing something else — a new book!

More about the Garden Planner and Notebook next week.

The Garden in Early October

1 October, 2019 by amygwh

October is a usually a great month in my garden. By now, most (but not all) of my summer crops have been replaced by fall-and-winter crops, and I am looking forward to some new vegetables.

Summer crops still in the October garden

Dark purple peppers clustered on a leafy, green pepper plant, still productive in early October. — Purple ‘Oda’ peppers

Your garden may have a lot more summer vegetables still in production, but in my own small garden there are still plenty of peppers. I did pull up a couple of pepper plants, to make room for autumn greens, but the remaining plants are still producing MANY peppers.

The tomato plant that I put into the garden as a seed in the last week of June is covered in green tomatoes, and those should begin ripening soon. That variety is called ‘Winterkeeper’, and I chose it for the long shelf-life of the tomatoes more than for spectacular flavor.

Two green tomatoes on a tomato plant; the variety is 'Winterkeeper', known for the long shelf-life of its tomatoes in fall.

Also in the garden, still productive, is Swiss chard, which is looking better after I removed the caterpillars that had been eating the leaves. We are also still bringing in parsley, to add to salads and soups, and the green onions that have re-grown from top-set bulbs; these are also called winter onions, tree onions, and walking onions.

I didn’t plant the purslane and Jewels of Opar, but they reseed all over the garden, and those plants are providing leaves for us to eat, too.

In addition, my winter-time tea plans are coming along nicely, as the roselle keeps making the main ingredient, the red calyxes that cover the seed pods, for hibiscus-based teas.

Roselle seed pods (left) and the removed and dried red parts, the calyxes, that are used to make tea.

I can’t say that any of these late-season summer crops, other than the peppers, are providing wildly abundant amounts of food, but I do enjoy it all.

Fall and winter crops coming along

My notes tell me that I was supposed to plant most of my carrots, escaroles, and radicchios around the 16th and 23rd of August, but that they didn’t actually get planted until August 26th. Considering that they are only five weeks old, I think the plants look great.

I planted more of those on September 2nd and 3rd, along with beets, kale, and watermelon radishes. I started planting salad radishes – many kinds – in gaps between the emerging leafy-greens very soon afterward.

Young carrot plants growing in a rectangular patch. Only the lacy green tops are visible. — Carrot patch in late September

Lettuces, a couple of turnips (trying a new variety), and two tiny cabbage plants went into the garden on those early September days, too, and seeds for black Spanish and more watermelon radishes on September 6th.

The very last greens to go into the garden — just last week — have been spinach and cilantro, because those are so sensitive to heat.

I also planted another small patch of beets that will probably not reach mature size until early spring, since the seeds went into the garden so late.

If you want to plant fall crops now

In my area, north of Atlanta, the first frost date is usually around November 1st. This means that planting time for fall and winter crops is almost over for nearby gardens. However, there are some exceptions.

Onion family crops

These might not be considered fall crops, since most of them won’t be ready for harvest until next June. However, October is the time to plant garlic, shallots, and multiplying onions.

Fast-growing salad radishes

There is enough time for many kinds of salad radishes, most of which can reach harvest-size in about a month. If we get actual cool weather soon, the radishes may need an extra week or two to reach that harvest-size, but you should be able to harvest them this fall.

Very cold-hardy crops

Spinach is the most cold-hardy crop I grow. Some varieties can reach mature size in 45-to-50 days. This is a good crop to plant, if you are late getting the fall garden started.

Collard greens are another option for late-planted fall gardens. Also, some lettuce varieties, such as ‘Marvel of four seasons’, are fairly cold hardy and can reach mature size in the same time-frame as spinach. If all goes well, seeds of these planted now might reach eating-size by December.

Small plants, instead of seeds

Most local garden centers still have plants/transplants of fall vegetables on their shelves. Some of these plants may do well, and others may not.

I visited two local garden centers yesterday, and at one of them all the collard greens had bolted — the central stem was growing tall, and leaves were forming very high on the stem. These elongating plants will not produce well in a garden, even if we get a miracle of cool weather tomorrow.

At the same garden center, most of the cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts plants looked healthy, and so did the cauliflower. Some of those might be worth trying, but they may need protection if we get an extreme cold snap early in winter.

Thinking about our crazy-hot September, an early extreme cold snap seems unlikely, but we may be at a point in time when improbable weather is the most likely of all.

Zinnias in my garden. Hummingbirds are still visiting these.

Why Did My Radishes Split?

30 December, 2018 by amygwh

There are two main reasons for my salad radishes to split apart. Both reasons, though, are related to my not paying enough attention to the crop.

Some background — I planted the first salad radishes, several kinds, in late September, but more seeds have gone into the ground since then. Until now, all the radishes have been whole, unsplit, but a few have been a bit spongy, which means some radishes definitely stayed in the ground too long.

Salad radishes harvested in late December from my Georgia garden.

Of the five radishes in the nearby picture, only one has split, but the split is huge. The texture and flavor of this radish, the fourth from the left, was fine, but the little veggie was hard to clean. Dirt really stuck tight to that white, inner part of the root.

Reason 1: Radishes left in the ground too long

One reason salad radishes split is that they have been left in the ground too long. University of Illinois Extension says this about harvesting radishes:

Pull radishes when they are of usable size (usually starting when roots are less than 1 inch in diameter) and relatively young. Radishes remain in edible condition for only a short time before they become pithy (spongy) and hot.
Radish, by University of Illinois Extension

Reason 2: Uneven watering

University of Illinois Extension adds this note: “A flush of moisture after a period of relative dryness also may cause mature roots to burst and split. Try to avoid uneven moisture availability.”

I haven’t done any watering this fall/winter. I haven’t needed to, because rain keeps falling and the soil never dries out. In the past week or so, though, the sky has dumped even more enormous quantities of water on north Georgia.

Radishes from my garden harvested on the 17th, just a week before that last batch, were not split. A couple of radishes harvested on the 26th were split. I am thinking that the massive rainfall contributed as much as age to the splitting.

How to have radishes that don’t split

Salad radishes from my north Georgia garden.

You can probably guess the logical solution to the split-radish problem: harvest early and put your garden in a less rainy location. That first part of the solution is reasonable, but it can be impossible to move your garden to a less-rainy location.

It is possible, though, to block some of that rainfall with a row cover. A non-woven row cover will let some rainfall through, but not all of it. If I had been thinking more about my radishes, I would have set up a cover for them, to prevent the excessive rainfall from soaking their planting bed.

My experience

My spring-planted radishes grow faster than my fall-planted radishes. In fall and winter, I think I have oodles of time to harvest those little roots. They stay crisp and sweet much longer in fall than in spring! However, the amount of time they can stay in the ground, even in fall/winter — and still be delicious — is limited.

There is one variety that hasn’t split, in any year, in my garden: ‘French Breakfast’. Maybe its longer, narrower shape protects it from splitting. This variety is a little spicier than some of the round types, but ‘French Breakfast’ is great on an open-face butter sandwich.

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Time for a Quick Crop of Radishes

27 March, 2017 by amygwh

Plenty of gardeners in North Georgia wait until after mid-April to begin planting vegetable crops, but anyone who is a bit impatient can plant some radish seeds now.

Radishes grow best in the cooler weather of early spring, and they are ready to harvest just 4-5 weeks after they are planted. This makes radishes a great little crop to start the gardening year. Success comes so soon!

It used to be that most radish seeds in the garden centers and catalogues produced radishes that were just round and red.

Now, though, a whole range of colors and shapes are available, which makes pulling the little roots up at harvest time a great adventure. The same patch of garden that grew the pink and white (almost hidden under the pink) radishes in the picture also gave us purple, red, and yellow (!) radishes. All were delicious.

People who are Not From Around Here sometimes refer to radishes as a foolproof crop. I remember, when I first moved to Georgia, reading in more than one book/document, that “anyone can grow radishes.” That statement may be true in a sense, but the red-clay soil that is the base of my garden did not make a radish crop for the first couple of years, no matter how many seeds I set into the ground.

If your garden has been thwarting your radish-dreams, do not despair. The yearly addition of composts and other amendments, and having the soil tested to find out exactly what is needed to balance the nutrients for vegetable production, will soon enough bring plenty of these little beauties to your springtime table.

(Featured photo of radishes from author’s garden. PHOTO/AmyGWh)