In the Garden: Of Radish Pods and Purple Carrots

Every spring when we plant our radishes we reserve one row for pods. For those who are not yet acquainted with the practice radishes, if left to grow and flower, will produce an abundance of seed pods that are flavored exactly like the radish root. They can be used green in a salad or, as William Hanbury recommends in A Complete body of planting and gardening, “are accounted excellent pickles.”

The long rooted radishes, such as the Long Scarlet, are accounted the best for radish pods as they are better able to support the weight of the flowers and pods. From one radish root the gardener may expect 30 or more excellent pods.

This week, for curiosity, we sowed a row of purple Afghani carrots. It was from Afghanistan that the carrot originated and it was ingenious Dutch gardeners who brought the orange carrot forth from within its purple ancestor.

Carrots are often difficult to establish as germination is generally slow and uneven. They are also amongst the most vexing of all vegetables to thin, but if they are not spaced evenly the shape and quality of the root will greatly suffer.

For the early spring sowing, we mix radish seed and carrot seed together. The radish seed will germinate quickly, prevent the soil from crusting and help to thin the carrots.

However, as there is little to be gained from sowing radishes in the summer heat, we mix the carrot seed with fine sand and sow it on the surface of a well prepared bed. This is generally sufficient to space the seedlings at more convenient intervals.

You must water the seed bed regularly so that it remains evenly moist and if these particulars are minded, the gardener will surely be rewarded with well-formed and flavored roots.