After a seemingly long winter of greens, winter squash, sweet potatoes, and a diminishing variety of fall root crops, the week that radishes start coming back to market feels like the first herald of spring!  Two weeks ago, I saw the first few bunches of radishes.  Last week, those few bunches turned into beautiful red mountains!

Before we know if, the market will be filled with spring broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and beets which will be quickly followed by sugar snap peas & new potatoes.

Have you ever wondered why radishes are the first spring vegetable to show up at the Market?  Radishes are very quick growing vegetables.  The time needed between planting the seed and harvesting the radish is just 3-5 weeks.  Compared to other spring root vegetables, radishes are really fast - beets take 7-10 weeks and carrots can take anywhere from 10-16 weeks. 

The name radish is derived from the latin word "radix" which means root.  The scientific name, or the genus and species, is

Raphanus sativus.  Raphanus is a Greek word that means "quickly appearing".  Radishes aren't packed with nutrients, but they are a good source of vitamin C. 

My favorite way to eat radishes, besides slicing them in a salad, is to eat them with butter and salt.  I could wax poetic about how wonderful this is, but earlier in the week, I found an article on culinate.com, called Butter Bliss: With Radishes, its the Ultimate Springtime Treat, that does it much better than I ever could.  Enjoy the article and enjoy the radishes!