Step One - OBTAIN MATERIALS!!!

Welcome to the Radish Green Project! I wanted to start an easy project for those that are interested in growing their own food. Gardening can be overwhelming, so I will try to break it down in steps and will have a support group to show pictures and to troubleshoot. In the end we can find who is local to each other and share our harvest!

Some of my first breakfast radishes. Harvested WAY too late, lol...

Why Radishes?

• They are easy to grow! 
• They grow well in containers
• Spring radishes only require 20-30 days 'til harvest!
• Several varieties to choose from! 
• It's rewarding to pull them from the ground
• A good source of vitamin C, antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and are only 16 calories per 100g.
• Even if you don't think you like radishes, give it a shot. I didn't like them before I started to grow them, now I love them! You can kind of adjust the sweetness/spiciness based on when you harvest them and of course which variety you choose.

Sound good? LET'S DO THIS. 

First thing's first. What do I need? Really, only five things.

RADISH SEEDS.  Duh...

Here are some links! Be sure to check the details, as some take longer to grow, are winter crops, or work best in certain zones. Which zone am I? 

• Baker Creek (my favorite place to buy seeds!)
• Seed Savers
• Etsy although germination rates may be spotty, check the reviews of each seller
• My personal favorites are the French Breakfast Radishes, and the De 18 Jours Radish (18 days! A great one for beginners)

The French Breakfast Radish

de 18jours radish

CONTAINER

At least 6" deep, and I recommend a width at least 10" so you can plant several, with drainage *some varieties may need a deeper container. You easily can build your own, use the soil bag like this guy did, or here are some quick cheap containers I found online that will do the trick. You can also go to a local nursery and probably get free nursery pots that they are just going to chuck out.

• Small Cedar Boxes
• More Cedar Boxes
• Smart Pots - Fabric round containers. Or a single one here. 
• Grow Pot (just another fabric pot)

There are many solutions, from growing them in 5 gallon buckets, or repurposing wine boxes, etc...just be sure the material is food safe and has drainage holes.

SUNLIGHT 

Full sun (all day direct sunlight) or partial shade. Partial shade means at least 4-5 hours of direct sunlight, or a full day of even dappled sunlight.

Example of dappled sunlight

The less sun it has, the more the leaves will grow bushy and the root will be small.

Radishes like temps between 50-70 degrees. If you have a nice sunny windowsill that would be great!
If you don't have sunlight, you can try to set up a small growing station indoors. I have something like this. We just used regular florescent bulbs and they worked just fine...

Our indoor setup for our seedlings

SOIL

• Well draining soil. Bagged potting soil for vegetables is ideal.
• If you are ambitious and want to mix the "perfect" soil, we use this "recipe" called Mel's Mix from the Square Foot Gardening Guide.
• It's also all bagged up and ready to go at Home Depot here

WATER

Yes, you need water! Try not to drown the seeds, the soil only needs to remain moist.

That's all for now. Gather all your stuff, pick out your seeds, I'll be posting another post shortly and we can get ready to plant them next weekend February 7th (with wiggle room)! Any questions, just ask me directly or check out our handy dandy FB Page I made. I'm still a newbie myself, so if you have additional tips or tricks please let us know! Also, don't forget to shout out which variety you are planting, so we don't have too many of the same kind and can trade varieties once we harvest.