Two More Garden Favorites

I love a colorful salad and radishes have to be one of the most beautiful ingredients in salad.  The ones I find in the store, however, are way to sharp of a flavor.  Biting and hot!  I think they're offensive.  I just love the colors though.

So anyway, I read the following description in a seed catalog and just had to give them a try.  I'm so glad I did!

FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH

HEIRLOOM 1879 An elongated radish, scarlet on top and white on the bottom. Tender and mild in flavor. Suitable for hot, dry conditions. 300 seeds. PLANTING: Outdoors- Sow 1/2” deep, 1/2 -1” apart in early spring. Thin to 1-2’ apart, soon after they emerge Harvest- 3-4 weeks after planting at 1” in diameter, pull them promptly as they rapidly decline becoming tough and pithy Tips- They need rapid growth for optimum results, provided by fertile soil and consistent moisture. For continuous harvest make successive planting every 7-10 days when weather is still cool.

I got the picture from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds.  Great Company.












The other "must have" in my garden are these beets:

CYLINDRA BEET (58 DAYS)

HEIRLOOM 1880 These beets are shaped more like a fat carrot or a thin rutabaga than a traditional beet, 6 to 8 inches long and 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. The dark red roots taste great and are ideal for slicing, either fresh or for pickling. 300 seeds. PLANTING: Indoors – 1/2” deep, 4-6 weeks before the last heavy frost. Sow into individual cells, transplant out as soon as possible (when first true leaves appear.) 3” apart in early spring, as soon as soil can be worked. Outdoors- Early spring 1/2” deep 1-2” apart with soil temperatures at 50 degrees. Soaking seed overnight aids in germination. Thin seedlings to 3-4” apart. Harvest- Begin picking at 1” for baby beets and up to 3” across for the most tender and best tasting. For best storage cut off the greens 2” above the top of the beet. Tip - Use the thinning’s for beet greens or plant a heavily seeded row for baby beet greens. Sow every 2 weeks for a continuous harvest.

It's a lot of beet in a small area.  We can also plant these close together like we do the Masai beans and have a larger harvest.  While we are always on the lookout for heirloom veggies that meet the criteria for our raised beds, we felt we were in need of more space.  Then we saw Larry Hall's rain gutter garden idea.  There's several videos about these now on youtube.

We came to the conclusion that beauty wasn't everything in a garden.  It has to be all about the food.  Our raised bed garden area is a nice place to be, with the pond and sound of the small waterfall.  But it hasn't been able to really stock the pantry for us.

The rain gutters are doing a good job.  This was the first year we used this method and it has worked well.  We will make it larger and provide more support for the plants next year.  We are going to add onions but our list isn't complete yet.