How and What to Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre (10th Ed)/Radishes
RADISHES.
These should be sown as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, and successive sowings should be made every two or three weeks, as recommended with peas, lettuce, etc. Do not sow too many at one time, but sow frequently, that they may be had fresh and crisp; they soon become either hollow, or hard and woody, if allowed to stand long after they are of sufficient size for use. Where there is glass enough to spare, it is an excellent plan to sow two or three rows in the hotbed at each planting of seeds, which will furnish them for use several weeks before they can be had from the garden.
There is a general impression that radishes do not do well except in very light soil, while my experience is that it is mainly a matter of manure and cultivation, and that good radishes can be raised early in the season on the heaviest of soils, though later in the season they will not succeed unless the soil be favorable. Where “Night Soil” can be obtained and composted with ashes, it will make the finest kind of manure for the radish bed; but it should be applied with judgment, as it will burn up any crop if applied too heavily. This manure can hardly be so readily applied in a special location in the garden worked by horse power, and I strongly disapprove of making “beds” in such a garden; it should be kept as level as possible, that all the cultivation may be done with the wheel and horse hoes; while “beds” mean lots of slow hand work, and hard beaton ground in the paths and edges, that are perpetual sources of weeds; while in the level garden the location of rows and crops can be continually shifted, every portion of the ground being used, and none escaping cultivation.
For the earliest plantings, the small, very early kinds should be used, and these will grow the finest radishes of the season, fresh, crisp, and slightly pungent. For summer use, the large summer kinds, of very mild flavor, should be selected. These latter should be planted from the first of June until the first of August, after which I begin to sow the small early kinds again, having found that I can grow them as fine and palatable as in the spring. In sowing these in the kitchen garden I sow a part of a row at a time, in the portion worked with the wheel hoe, where the rows are about one foot apart; the seed is sown thinly in the drills, and if it comes up too thickly, should be thinned out to one inch apart for the small kinds and two inches for the larger ones. The seed should be sown from one-half inch to one inch in depth, according as it is early or late in the season or in heavy or light soils. The radishes should be pulled early in the morning and kept in fresh water in a cool cellar until used, so as to have them fresh, brittle and crisp. The large winter varieties are not much raised, except by the Germans, being rather too pungent for the American taste.[1] The seed is generally mixed with the turnip seed and broadcasted or drilled in together, but if I were planting them, I would think it much better to sow them in drills and cultivate separately.
VARIETIES OF RADISHES.
Burpee’s Earliest (Scarlet Button).—I have grown this new radish for two seasons and consider it the earliest and finest radish that I have ever grown. It is the earliest, about one inch in diameter, handsome, crisp and brittle. The color is the deepest scarlet. It has very small leaves, and a great many can be grown in a small space, rendering it very valuable for forcing. Last winter I sowed seed between the rose bushes in my forcing houses and kept my table supplied, and had large quantities to sell.
BURPEE’S EARLIEST (SCARLET BUTTON) RADISHES.
Natural size, when ready for use.
Early Long Scarlet Short Top.—This is a fine selection of the long, slender scarlet radishes so generally seen in the spring, and is preferred by some to the round or turnip radishes. It is very early, tender, crisp and fine flavored; the roots averaging half an inch in diameter at the top and tapering from that throughout their length of four or five inches.
Earliest Carmine, Olive-Shaped.—A very early radish, of a rich carmine color, and while not so early as Burpee's Earliest, attains fully twice the size; the roots are of an even, regular olive shape and very fine quality. It is an excellent radish for forcing, on
LONG SCARLET RADISH.
EARLIEST CARMINE, OLIVE RADISH.
account of its size and appearance and the small growth of top which it makes, enabling many to be grown in a small space.[2]
SUMMER VARIETIES OF RADISHES.
Golden Globe.—This variety is of very quick growth and fine quality, being ready for use in from four to six weeks after sowing the seed. In shape it is almost entirely round, the color quite bright, and the quality very sweet and crisp.
Giant White Stuttgart produces very large roots, frequently reaching the size of an ordinary turnip; it
GOLDEN GLOBE RADISH.
GIANT WHITE STUTTGART RADISH.
LONG WHITE VIENNA, OR LADY FINGER RADISH.
is very quick growing and resists the heat of summer well, being firm and brittle until it runs to seed. The skin and flesh are pure white, a good guarantee of its mild flavor.
Long White Vienna.—This is a very fine long, white radish, both skin and flesh being pure white; it is crisp and brittle and rapid in growth, and to my mind of a much more attractive shape than the large globe radishes, which, unless pulled young, are too large for any hut the confirmed lover of radishes.
Large White Globe.—Avery large, round, summer turnip radish, with pure white skin and flesh, which is very crisp and brittle. It grows quickly and withstands heat well. It is similar to the Golden Globe, except in color.[3]
LARGE WHITE GLOBE RADISH.
CALIFORNIA MAMMOTH.
WINTER VARIETIES.
California Mammoth White.—This is the largest of all radishes, the roots growing eight to ten inches long and two to three inches in diameter, while the flesh is solid, snow white and of excellent flavor.
Chinese Rose.—This is a bright, rose-colored variety, of very attractive appearance; it is of excellent quality, a good keeper, and one of the best varieties for winter use.
- ↑ We must differ with Mr. Darlington as to the usefulness of the winter radishes. Their fresh, pungent taste is very refreshing in winter, when there is such a scarcity of vegetables. The most popular varieties are the California Mammoth White Winter, Chinese Rose Winter and the Round Black Spanish Winter Radish.—Ed.
- ↑ For forcing, Wood’s Early Frame is preferred to the Long Scarlet; it is of same shape, but not so long, and has less foliage. Other good early radishes besides those named are Early Round Dark Red, Half Long Scarlet, Early Oral Dark Red, Early White Turnip, French Breakfast and the White Tipped Turnip Radishes. A variety of these handsome little radishes on the table is both attractive and appetizing.—Ed.
- ↑ In addition to the varieties named, the White Strasburg, Burpee’s Surprise and Chartiers or Shepherd radishes are particularly valuable for summer use. The latter is very handsome, of large shape, clear rose color, shading off into pure white; it is also remarkable from the fact that it retains its fine quality, even when grown to an extraordinary size.—Ed.