As kids look forward to Easter egg hunts and candy, why not divert their attention to hunting for fast growing Easter Egg Radishes in the garden? Imagine how pretty your child’s Easter basket will look when it is filled with these colorful radishes. They are also delicious added to salads and to use as a vibrant garnish.Our Easter Egg Radishes are perfect for Easter season harvesting in mild climates or growing in later spring in cold winter climates. These roots come out of the soil in shades of pink, purple, red and white with very crisp and white interiors. Kids can easily sow the seeds themselves and in under a month, they’ll be harvesting the tasty multicolored radishes.
Have your child read the back of the packet to learn when to plant, how much sun is required, how deep to sow, days to germination, and days to harvest. Have your child mark a calendar to count off the days from sowing to harvest. A small 2 x 2 or larger area in your garden with 4 or more hours of sun will be ideal for growing radishes. You can plant more seeds every couple weeks for a continuous harvest – one packet has several hundred seeds!To get started, choose a site in the garden, loosen the soil to a shovel’s depth and turn in about an inch of well-composted organic matter to amend the soil. After the compost is well mixed in, rake the soil flat.
Take a ruler and lay it on the garden bed and have your child make a hole every inch along the ruler and 1/2 inch deep using a pencil. Drop 1-2 seeds in each hole, gently cover with soil and water.
Keep the seed bed moist and germination takes place in 4-7 days.
When the seedlings are large enough to handle, help your child gently thin out the seedlings, so you are left with 1 seedling every 2 inches. This is an important step, because each radish seedling needs room to grow into a nice sized radish. If not, thinned, crowding will prevent them from maturing properly.
In about 24-28 days, simply push back a little soil around several radishes to see if your Garden Easter Eggs have grown to a good size to harvest – anywhere from the size of the cherry to a walnut. Don’t leave radishes in the ground too long.
Original article by UC master gardener Susan Schieferle appeared in Raise magazine. Photos are from Renees Garden
