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Post by Dutch on Oct 21, 2013 5:11:17 GMT -5
Planted some extra Groundhog radishes in my brassica plot trying to loosen the hard, rocky soil. Here is the result. We pulled a good number of these up, so, this is not an exception. As you can see, they have the ability to drill into the soil, helping to alleviate compaction and hard soils. This should allow roots of the next crop, clover, to penetrate deeper and allow moisture to penetrate.  |
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Post by wentzler on Oct 31, 2013 18:16:40 GMT -5
and they're good to eat  Also called 'winter radish'. Excellent soil builder if plowed under in the spring. If they grow fast enough they are as sweet as any white radish you'll eat..and cooked they put one in mind of turnips..with a tang:) |
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Post by Bill on Nov 2, 2013 17:11:25 GMT -5
Never ate the radishes but have eaten quite a few turnips out of my little food plot.  |
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Post by Dutch on Nov 3, 2013 19:09:35 GMT -5
and they're good to eat Also called 'winter radish'. Excellent soil builder if plowed under in the spring. If they grow fast enough they are as sweet as any white radish you'll eat..and cooked they put one in mind of turnips..with a tang:) Not sure they have to be plowed under in the spring. Talked to a farmer last week that has been using them for about 8 years. He thinks they are an excellent cover crop and soil builder. The field beside our camp is planted with radishes and rye or winter wheat. |
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Post by wentzler on Nov 5, 2013 6:07:52 GMT -5
No, they don't need plowed under but tilled into the soil the organic material is more readily and rapidly available. But...back to eating them! I wasn't at all familiar with these things until about a month ago, when my MIL started bringing them home from the farmers market. So I researched a bit, and suspected they were what I was seeing growing in a neighbor's upper field. So I requested permission top yank a few, and have been experimenting just enough to know I'll be planting some on the Two Achers this coming year. Left a really fine big one lay on the truck bed Sunday night..as suspected freezing might do nice things to it. Basically it became a giant water chesnut Good in the salad, good sauteed, sliced and salted raw, in the stir fry... Check twice before you shoot that fuzzy, furry thing in your food plots..it might be me digging up a snack  |
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Post by Dutch on Nov 5, 2013 6:21:55 GMT -5
I was told by a person who sells the seeds that if planted thick enough, these radish leaves, after a freeze, form a thick mat on the ground and suppress weeds come spring. You might be interested in this Ed. www.covercropsolutions.com/ |
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Post by wentzler on Nov 5, 2013 7:47:22 GMT -5
And rye supresses germination and/or establishment of the seeds of many of the worst nasties like Dock, Burrdock, Poke, etc. Always interested in more knowledge..thanks Deuschte Dutch, ya really need do the scenic route one time on yer way north..i.e. 180 W to 87 N to 2785 (Look for camo mailbox 2785, left side, 2.7 miles north of 180/87 interchange on 16" tires , then after short visit at Two Achers, Commence north on 87 to 973 west, all the way to 44, from which where you ought well be able to figure out how to get to camp?? Would really enjoy for you to see what I have 'going on' here.... ed |
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Post by Dutch on Nov 5, 2013 15:32:59 GMT -5
Have considered the "detour" on a number of occasions, but always in a hurry. Need to slooooooowwwwwwwwww down. |
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Post by bake545 on Nov 5, 2013 15:52:56 GMT -5
Have considered the "detour" on a number of occasions, but always in a hurry. Need to slooooooowwwwwwwwww down. I'm pretty sure I won't slow down until I'm dead |
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Post by bushmaster on Nov 5, 2013 16:18:23 GMT -5
Do deer eat them? I planted turnip in with my clover this year. The deer have been mowing the tops down, the turnips themselves are the size of catelopes. They love the stuff. Had 30 deer in one field last week.
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Post by bake545 on Nov 5, 2013 16:58:16 GMT -5
If the deer are eating your turnips they will eat radish too.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 5, 2013 17:46:57 GMT -5
The radishes don't stick out real far, the turnips do, so, for the food value I'd guess turnips might be the way to go.
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Post by wentzler on Nov 5, 2013 19:02:13 GMT -5
AS good as they are...can't believe everything isn't eating them Remind ya'll...tell the story of the great potato price crash...1500 acres of tatters where I was hunting in NY..and deer digging tatters as good as any starvin' Irishman |
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Post by wentzler on Nov 5, 2013 19:02:51 GMT -5
Remind "ME" ..fat fingers:)
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Post by Dutch on Nov 5, 2013 19:08:28 GMT -5
Ed, the turkeys peck at them, and the bears eat them. The porkys like them as well.
I just like the fact that a nice brassica plot adds a lot of tonnage that deer can feed on, in the form of greens, at a time when woods food is drying up.
This year we had pretty many apples. While the deer and bears finish them up, the brassica is there waiting for them to get done.
My one pet peeve these days is that I feel the huge numbers of bears, and their appetites, are taking a lot of the apples away from the deers.
We need to kill more bears!!!!!
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Post by benc on Dec 20, 2013 15:07:44 GMT -5
I like planting these. They eat the tops earlier than my purple top and other brassicas.
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Post by Dutch on Dec 20, 2013 16:48:28 GMT -5
I like planting these. They eat the tops earlier than my purple top and other brassicas. I noticed that as well BenC. They are pretty picky eaters. Years ago I planted a mix of purple tops and dwarf essex rape. They keys in on the rape first, then the purple top greens. I found the purple top leaves to be have fuzzy hairs on the underside that they may not have cared for, if given a choice? For new plots, on harder packed soils, I'm going to use these radishes to help break up the soil as I have no plow. |
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Also called 'winter radish'. Excellent soil builder if plowed under in the spring. If they grow fast enough they are as sweet as any white radish you'll eat..and cooked they put one in mind of turnips..with a tang:)
