Radishes

Radishes are a great spring crop for farms in Rhode Island. They like the cool weather we have in the spring so you can plant them in March, they germinate quickly, and you can harvest them in as little as four weeks! There are also lots of people who enjoy eating radishes. At the Richmond Farmers' Market, I sell lots of radishes in May and early June. Radish fans love to tell me how they use radishes in salads or pickled in vinegar. I had someone tell me that they eat radish sandwiches with butter, an idea I had not heard before.

In the past few months, a new way to eat radishes has been gaining popularity at upscale restaurants, especially in New York City. The food trend of roasting radishes was documented a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times. This didn't come as a surprise to us as we've been talking about roasting radishes to patrons of the Richmond Farmers' Market for over a year. Most folks are skeptical and who can blame them. We had the same reaction when some good friends made a pan of roasted vegetables and asked us to guess the secret ingredient. As you know by now, it was radishes. When roasted, radishes lose a lot of the peppery, or sulfur taste that radish haters find objectionable. They release their sugars and Karen says they taste kind of like a roasted onion. I think it's more like a turnip and I'be heard others say roasted potato. Either way, roasting radishes is a great way to enjoy this spring crop and when you think about it, it only makes sense. All root crops (carrots, beets, potatoes) are wonderful roasted, so why not the humble radish?