Radish or not to be!! (sounds better in hebrew..)
This summer we are in a camp in the Catskill mountains of New York.
My kids are in activities with the other young campers of the Shomer Ha’tsair. I’m working in the kitchen with Maya Ben Tsvi and in the organic farm. We grow here organic vegetables!!
Today it poured rain and then the sun came out again together with the hundred and something kids who filled the lawn playing Frisbee (I can already throw straight!), Soccer, yoga dances and mud sliding (yes, it is something that is done here). Despite the rain and mud, it is hot.
More who enjoy the rain, dampness, mud, and the mixture of sun, heat and water are the organic crops in the garden.
Although we've only been here two weeks, the various organic lettuces are plentiful just like at the beginning or end of winter in Israel, when it is warm and wet. Good weather for the leafy vegetables.
The most plentiful are the radishes
Radishes grow in warm and humid weather easily and really fast. Within 3-4 weeks a radish grows from a seed in the ground ☺
Radish is a member of the Brassicaceae family, formerly known as the cruciferous family. (Cruciferous family is a flower with four petals arranged in the shape of a cross).
Flower of the wild radish, one of the mothers of the cultivated radish.
All of the cabbages – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale are members of the same family.
We are familiar especially with the pink colored and round radish, but the most commonly grown radish is the Asian Daikon, which is white and shaped like a carrot.
Its taste is more delicate than the radishes we have, and in Asia it is used not only as a raw vegetable, like we do, but also in cooking, sautes, soups, drying and probably more. Here are recipes for organic daikon radish.
Besides the white daikon, radishes come in a variety of shapes and colors.
The name in Hebrew is “Tsnon” because of its strong smell. In arabic “Tsunan” means stink.
But in Hebrew “tsnon” is a nickname for someone dry and boring. You went out on a blind date, your friend asks how it was, the girls answer could be "creep". The guy replies "Tznon- dry and boring". In Russian, "radish" is the nickname of a hypocritical person, pink on the outside but white inside.
Actually, it is not that at all! Don't judge by the name, but what is inside it.
So I want to praise the fresh radish, shiny and beautiful. Sharp and sweet at the same time, juicy and refreshing and you can it eat all entirely, including the leaves. Recipes for organic radish leaves.
Radish has been loved and even admired in other cultures since a long time ago. In Egypt it was cultivated before the pyramids were built. In Greece they sculpted radishes in gold and put it at the feet of the god Apollo.
Sometime around the 16th century it arrived to Britain, and there it still has a place of honor and is eaten fresh with butter and salt.
In Mexico it is common to see a huge bowl of radishes next to a bowl of lime and a bowl of salt in many restaurants. In the Mexican town of Oaxaca on December 23rd they celebrate Radish Night (Noche de Rábanos), a festival with statues full of radishes.
Radish is one of the most important organic vegetables in the macrobiotic kitchen, where it is recommended to eat at least one every day. It is considered an anti-carcinogin like its siblings in the brassica family – broccoli, cabbage…
It contains sulfur-based components that increase bowel movements and help digestion and cleansing and is beneficial to teeth, hair and nails. Because of these components, in traditional medicine it is used to treat the liver.
It is also anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and has an anti-inflammatory effect and is therefore used to relieve respiratory problems and arthritis.
Is a diuretic and cleaner and therefore used to treat kidney problems and stones both there and in the gall bladder, including gastrointestinal problems.
It contains many enzymes that help digestion.
Organic radish sprouts, of course, like any sprout, contain more enzymes, vitamins and minerals and are included in the Organic sprouts that we grow every week.
Here is a boiled radish recipe by Erez Komorowski
May it be a week that is sharp, juicy and beautiful!
To Health!
Maggie and garden staff
In our organic veggie baskets I expect (draft only):
Green onions
Thai green beans
parsley
Leeks
Radishes
pumpkin
lettuce
Eggplants
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
In the larger organic vegetable baskets, also:
Onions
Japanese pumpkin
Potatoes
Organic fruit baskets ;
Melon
And another Melon
Apples
In the larger organic fruit baskets, also:
papaya
And grapes
