Category: Wine Cellars

Can You Eat Daikon Radish Greens?

You can eat all portions of the yearly Daikon radish (Raphanus sativus var. Longipinnatus) and they are delicious. Although many Americans are accustomed to eating just the origins of smaller radishes in salads or as garnish, Asians eat Daikon leaves, commonly referred to as greens, in soups and pickled as in the Korean favorite, kimchi.

The White Daikon

The white, cylindrical Daikon cultivar usually found in American supermarkets is also referred to as the Chinese radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish and winter radish. Although the word “Daikon” means “great root” in Japanese, the mild, white cultivar originated in continental Asia. It grows up to 20 inches long and 4 inches wide at maturity, weighing from 1 to 2 lbs. You can eat its greens, however, some other Daikon cultivars have more leaves and smaller roots.

Other Daikon Cultivars

Many Daikon radish cultivars grow from 10 to 20 lbs at maturity, though they are typically harvested at 1 to 5 lbs. Some specimens have weighed around 100 lbs. Daikon cultivars might be round, and have black, black, pink, purple or red flesh. Some varieties are grown for their edible greens as opposed to their origins. You might find seeds for soluble varieties in seed catalogs.

Eating The Leaves

Daikon leaves grow in rosettes in addition to the roots. Should you remove the leaves from the plant, the roots will die so you have to harvest them in precisely the same moment. Young leaves are more tender and mild than mature leaves. Many grocers don’t understand Daikon greens are edible and remove them prior to displaying the roots. Some grocers shop the greens in back for people who request them. If they are available, start looking for bright green, fresh leaves and avoid the ones that are wilted or starting to yellow.

Growing Good Leaves

Daikons are winter annuals. Should you plant them in September through October, then they will be prepared to eat in 60 to 70 days. You can plant them in early spring to get a early summer crop, but the leaves will taste hotter. Store both the leaves and roots in the refrigerator over the short term. For periods up to several month, store them in a root cellar or other cool location.

See related

Vegetable Planting Guide for Plant & Row Spacing

Properly spacing your lawn plants and rows prevents your plants from competing for nutrients and water. The ideal spacing to use on your garden is based on the size of the lawn and the varieties of plants you’re growing. Each species of vegetable has a minimum quantity of space it must sustain healthful growth. Although you can develop your vegetables at closer intervals, supplying adequate spacing between the plants allows them to develop larger and reduces their vulnerability to competition and disease.

Row Spacing

The ideal spacing between the rows in your garden provides ample space for the plants to develop and also for you to work in. In most cases it is a fantastic idea to leave at least 18 to 36 inches of space between each row of plants. Large garden plants, such as cucumbers, melons and pumpkins, have sprawling growth habits that develop best with rows spaced 60 to 72 inches apart. Spacing your rows slightly farther apart than the minimal spacing for the plants you’re using can provide you with a more comfortable working area, and also the increased growing area for your plants encourages larger, healthier plants. Leaving breaks 2 feet in the middle of long rows supplies simple access to the middle of large gardens.

Garden Layouts

The most frequent garden layout is a series of parallel rows spaced at regular periods that offer space for your plants to distribute and room to work in. Gardeners that are looking to acquire the most of a limited space can use a block layout. The block layout employs exactly the identical spacing between rows and plants to create a grid of plants. Although this type of row spacing lets you plant vegetables, the tighter spacing of the plants may make them more susceptible to drought and competition from weeds. This type of spacing is most effective in fertile soils with good drainage where competition from weeds is minimal.

Small Plants

Smaller garden vegetable plants, such as beets, carrots, mustard plants, onions, pea plants and radishes, require approximately a few inches of space between plants in a row. Somewhat bigger plants, such as lima beans, bush beans, leeks, leaf lettuce, rutabaga, spinach and turnip plants, develop best with roughly four to six inches of space between the middle of each plant. Pole beans require roughly six to 12 inches of spacing, and mustard, Swiss chard and kohlrabi perform best with a spacing of six to nine inches between plants. Heads of lettuce, potato plants and Oriental cabbage need approximately 10 to 12 inches of space between each plant.

Large Plants

Plants with broad foliage or root processes, such as broccoli, cucumber and okra, require between 12 and 18 inches of space between each plant. Providing 15 to 18 inches of space between your asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, endive, cauliflower, corn and kale plants helps decrease competition and also promotes healthy growth. Large plants that need significant quantities of water require more room to develop. Supplying a spacing of 18 to 24 ins for your eggplant, summer squash and tomatoes ensures they can find the water they require. Winter squash, pumpkins and watermelons perform best when they are planted with a minimum spacing of 36 inches.

See related

Flowers, Plants & Vegetables That Grow From a Bulb

All plants initially begin as seeds and several reproduce like that. Some, nevertheless, develop enlarged parts along their roots that contain sufficient energy and nutrients to produce new plants. Bulbs significantly reduce the growing time for gardeners who do not want to bother beginning particular types of plants in seed. More often than not, bulbs may be dug up and moved to a different area of the garden or stored for planting in subsequent decades.

Flower Bulbs

The daffodil (Narcissus spp.) Is only 1 kind of flower that is grown from spring coats. They are called spring bulbs, because that is usually when they bloom in areas that fall in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 to 9. Planted in the late autumn, the bulbs spend the chilly season in the earth putting down roots and also manufacturing the food they’ll use to feed the plants once they begin growing over the soil. When that occurs, the visible parts of the plants begin to process nutrients with help from the sun through photosynthesis. Plants categorized as spring bulbs comprise tulips (Tulipa spp.) , hyacinth (Hycinthus orientalis), grape hyacinth (Muscari), snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), anemones (Anemone spp.) and crocus (Crocus spp.) .

Flowering and Foliage Plants

Once spring bulbs have finished blooming, other plants grown from bulbs take over in the garden. All these are perennials that are left in the ground lawns but that should be dug up and separated should they become too congested or start generating less than satisfactorily. These include amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.) and cyclamen (Cyclamen spp.) , which can also be grown as houseplants, irises (Iris spp.) , calla lilies (Zantedeschia) and dahlias (Dahlia spp.) Non-flowering plants grown from bulbs comprise caladium (Caladium spp.) And elephant ears (Colocasia), both of which create large impressive foliage plants. These bulb plants are hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9.

Vegetables

Onions, garlic and shallots are grown from bulbs. While they may be grown from seed, many gardeners prefer to speed up the process by beginning their plants in bulbs, which are smaller undeveloped types of their plants. Garlic intended for planting is sometimes obtained from the prior season’s harvest and stored until ready to go in the ground. Onions, grown from little undeveloped plants called places, can be increased as spring onions and harvested when the tops are mature or left in the ground to enlarge to storage size. Young shallot bulbs grow into segmented mature bulbs, and while fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is grown from seed, the plant develops into a bulb as it grows.

Factors

A flower bulb is composed of five main parts, as stated by the University of Illinois Extension. They comprise a basal plate in which roots develop and an outer covering called a tunic that covers the growing part of the bulb. Flowers like tulips (Tulipa spp.) , daffodils, (Narcissus) lilies (Lillium spp.) and alliums (Allium spp.) Produce new, smaller bulbs called bulbils or bulblets just over the basal plate and that eventually can become so many they choke the plant. Digging up and separating the smaller bulbs not only aid the parent plant but also provide more bulbs from which to develop new plants. Other types of plant origins that fall under the heading of bulbs include corms, which are smaller than accurate bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots and rhizomes. Plants that grow from corms comprise gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.) and crocus (Crocus spp.) . Plants that grow from tubers comprise oxalis (Oxalis crassipes) and anemones (Anemone spp.) . Begonias (Begonia spp.) and dahlias (Dahlia spp.) Grow from tuberous roots, lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) in rhizomes that grow horizontally just below the dirt, and daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) Exemplify a perennial grown from fleshy roots.

See related