Radish

Spring has finally taken hold and radish seeds we started on Apr 26 are starting to show good growth. While weeding, I’ve been finding the seeds that strayed from the row have grown larger roots. I tried to replant these, but the leaves shriveled up by the next day.

Comparing Radish Seedlings

I planned to use radish as a pest management tool for cucurbits (melon, cucumber, squash, winter squash, pumpkins), but to be honest, have never liked them as food. Some folks swear by them, I’ve seen radish as the hip representation on hand-crafted, screen-printed, Brooklyn-produced, $50-dollar canvas totes. But all I ever tasted was its bitter, long-lasting, tastebud-altering, aftertaste. I figured it was worth one last shot so decided to buy some at the supermarket and cook them with garlic and olive oil. Guess what, garlic + olive oil + salt + heat solves all problems. I like them! I will eat them! Heck, I will even buy those sad prepackaged little bags if that’s all the corner bodega carries.

Tatsoi

Tatsoi started on Apr 19 are about the baby greens stage. Next week, I can clip some leaves.

Onion from Seed

These white bunching onions, sown in 5 rows with about 6 inches between the rows, need a serious weeding session. After checking on the kale rows and weeding around each baby kale plant, I took out a rototiller for the other row crops. The importance of a straight row became apparent as I tried to steer the cultivator from hitting the crops. I need to pick up some additional hand tools – stirup hoe, collinear hoe – to help manage this multi-row crop.