You know what I like about growing radishes? They’re an instant gratification veggie. They’re easy to grow and fast, fast, fast-maturing. Most of them, anyway. In the gardener’s world of waiting 80 days for luscious, ripe tomatoes and 100 days for mouth-watering watermelon, radishes are the harvest relief. Many varieties mature within a month which is amazing to this vegetable grower.

Another thing I love about them is the terrific colors. They come in a rainbow assortment of pink, red, white, purple, rose, and yellow. Their shapes are anywhere from ball, cylindrical, and carrot-shaped. They’re just the cheeriest little veggies going and are the perfect first vegetable for a child’s garden.

The best way to plant them is from seed and when they sprout (which seems like only hours), you can thin them with scissors. They like temperatures on the cooler side so direct seed them in early spring and keep seeding until the weather really warms up. Then start again in the fall.

One of the best places to plant radishes is in the same bed (and at the same time) as carrot seeds. Carrots are the turtles of the garden and just about the time that radishes are ready to be harvested, the carrots’ sleepy little greens are ready to be thinned.  But don’t stop there. Plant radish seeds in little areas all over your veggie beds and even among your annual flowers – no one ever runs out of room to tuck in radishes.

You want to water them often and not let them dry out or they could crack – plus the dry soil gives them hotter flavor. After I bring them into the kitchen, I chop off the greens and give them to my rabbits who are busy producing some top-notch manure for my compost pile.

More on growing radishes…

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Corona® Multi-Purpose Metal Mini Garden Shovel

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Longer Service Life: The blade of this round small shovel is made of carbon steel, which can effectively improve the hardness by high temperature quenching, and the surface has anti-rust coating to avoid rusting. In the process of use when encountering hard objects will not bend and deformation. Sturdy Structure: The small garden shovel with D-handle, ergonomically designed grip can increase the grip of the hand when using, the handle is made of strong fiberglass, will not bend and break under heavy pressure. Quick Digging: Well-made digging shovel has a sharp blade, and the round shovel head is designed to easily penetrate the soil and cut quickly while digging to enhance your work efficiency.

Buy at Amazon

Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil.

Buy at Amazon

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY.

Buy at Amazon