2 February 2009

Weather: today was bitterly cold with a chilling north-easterly wind bringing sleet and snow.

Today Trevor plants some radish seeds in a planter. Radishes are easy to grow and provide a delicious early vegetable. By planting several containers a week apart, Trevor makes sure to have a ready supply of fresh radishes throughout the growing season.

What you need:

• Planter or other suitable container. This will be stored indoors for the first few weeks.
• Seeds – Trevor only uses certified organic seeds but radish seed is widely available in garden centres
• Soil – Trevor uses soil from the plot where he grew cabbages last season
• Compost
• Shovel or trowel

Make sure the planter is clean before you fill it. Then fill it to within a couple of inches of the top with the soil. Sow the seeds thinly (i.e. well spread out) on top of the soil and cover with a thin layer of compost (or more soil if you don’t have compost). Then place the planter in a well lit location protected from frost. Trevor placed his planter indoors, just inside his patio doors. When the weather gets a bit better, he will move the planter outdoors.

Next week, and for each of the following four weeks, he will start another planter of radishes. That way, he will have a continuous supply of fresh radishes throughout the season.

For more information on growing and cooking radishes, take a look at this article on Garden.ie