Radish is a fun vegetable to grow. It is a salad root vegetable, brightly coloured and quick to grow. They are crunchy with a warm and peppery taste. They are so quick and easy to grow that children will enjoy getting involved too!

Being a small vegetable, radish can be sown around other crops to save space or in containers but you can sow directly in rows if you wish.

Sow a few, often so that you get a staggered harvest throughout the season. Sow the radish seeds about an inch apart and half an inch deep in soil. Early sowing will need to be undercover. If you sow too many, they can be thinned out later on. 

Radish will thrive with a little shelter from bigger plants during hot summers.

Radish grows so quickly that any problems are minimal, however, that is not to say they cannot get infected. The most common problem being flea beetle. The appearance of this will be holey leaves and may slow the growth of the radish.  Heavier, moisture retaining soils and watering regularly can help reduce this.

Radishes grow very quickly, sometimes as little as four weeks. Water regularly; particularly during dry spells to avoid them splitting. They require little care, however do keep a close eye on them due to their fast growth. Left too long and radishes become woody and inedible in the summer. Autumn sown radishes can be left longer and pulled as and when required for a few weeks; no later than the beginning of November.

Radishes make a delicious addition to a salad, eaten fresh and raw. You can cook radishes, giving them a much more mellow flavour but a nice texture with a bit of bite to them. You can roast them or pan-fry. An ideal ingredient to try in a stir-fry.

Radishes can be blanched, sliced and frozen in an airtight freezer bag. They are best eaten fresh, refrigerated for a few days.