A Spicy Little Radish: a vegetable that can take your students on a journey around the world, from your school’s farm to the fork and right into their bellies and hearts!
Most students have never even tried a radish. They have no idea about what the radish root or leaf can do for their bodies. Incorporate this STEM lesson and lab into your Ag Ed or FACS classroom.

Radish Background Information

Objectives / Ag Ed / AP41 HRT I: 7.00 Apply procedures to plan and plant a vegetable garden. / AU10 Agriscience Applications: 3.03 Understand basic horticultural (ornamental, fruit and vegetable) and agronomic principles and practices. / AP 71 Biotech I: 11.00 Analyze the impact of cells on the formation and function of living organisms, / AP72 Biotech II: 6.00 use advanced laboratory techniques and procedures in agriscience research, 13.00 Examine techniques and biological food process in food science related to biotechnology. / FACS / FN41 Foods I: 1.00 understand methods for safety, sanitation, processes and conserving resources., 2.00 Understand methods of food preparation, 4.00 Understand the relationship between food choices and health, 5.00 Understand food choices, 6.00 Apply methods for meal planning and preparation. / FN43 Foods II Technology: 3.00 Understand the functions of food constituents, 5.00 Understand how microorganisms affect food safety and food quality, 7.00 Understand food production systems. / FN42 Foods II Enterprise: 1.00 Understand causes of foodborne illness, 2.00 Understand factors that influence food safety, 3.00 Understand safe facilities, pest management, and sanitation, 5.00 Apply specialty food preparation skills.
Radish History and Culture / Radishes (Raphanus sativus) are native to the Mediterranean. Various cultures eat the roots and radish leaves. In Asia, the white daikon radish is used in countless dishes. The ancient Greeks prized radishes above all other roots and even constructed art and replicas of them in gold. The Egyptians, well before the pyramids were built, and the ancient Romans devoured radishes. Radish comes from the Latin word “radix” meaning root. Columbus brought radishes to America. Today, cultures around the world relish the radish. French cuisine uses the radish even in breakfast dishes while nouveau cuisine pickles the radish for use as a garnish or welcomed pairing to countless dishes.
The Benefits of a Radish / Universities, government agencies, and countless other organizations research the health impacts from radish consumption. According to the FDA, USDA, and NCSU, 1/2 cup of radishes offers the following:

No fat or cholesterol	Low sodium
Low in carbohydrates	Packed with fiber
14% of daily Vitamin C allotment	Vitamins K, B6, Niacin, Folate and / Pantothenic Acid
Filling	High water content
Cancer and common cold fighter	Detoxifier

A Spicy Little Radish: a vegetable that can take your students on a journey around the world, from your school’s farm to the fork and right into their bellies and hearts!
Most students have never even tried a radish. They have no idea about what the radish root or leaf can do for their bodies. Incorporate this STEM lesson and lab into your Ag Ed or FACS classroom.

Radish Cultivation
Need a crop that is cheap and easy? Radishes are your answer. Mother Nature must have made these plants just for teachers who don’t have a lot of time or energy to spend on gardening. They are ready for harvest nearly 25 days after planting and require very little care.
Radishes are best grown in fall, winter, and spring in a site with at least six hours of sun and soil that has good tilth (light and fluffy– unlike most of North Carolina’s heavy red clay). If you do not have good garden soil, you ca plant in potting soil.
Want Instant-Perfect Garden Soil: Raised beds are a great way to grow radishes. Make a small garden bed by simply taking a bag of garden soil, laying it flat on the ground. Make about 5-10 holes with a pencil or sharp object on one side and then place this side in contact with the ground/pavement/concrete. Now, with the side facing up make slits into the bag (horizontally or vertically) with a knife or cut out an entire window (see sowing directions for spacing of rows (slits) and number of slits).
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Sowing: Radishes are one of the easiest crops to sow (plant from seed). These small seeds can still be maneuvered by even the smallest or largest of hands. Radishes are sown directly where they will be cultivated (grown) and harvested (picked). This is known as direct sowing. If you try to transplant (move) the radish seedling (young radish plant) it will be injured and the radish ball will be malformed or split (known as forking).
Radishes are best sown from February 1st through April 15th and August 1st through September 30th in North Carolina. Radishes will not tolerate heat and instead will bolt (flower and produce seed) and become very bitter and/or ridiculously spicy.
Space rows approximately 6-12” apart.
Make the row (also called a drill– think of a drill sergeant putting their troops in line) about 1/2” deep.
Plant 1-2 seeds every 1/2-1” apart.
Cover the seeds back up with soil to a 1/2” depth.
Irrigation: Irrigation (watering) is essential to a radish. About 95% of a radish is water.
Once a seed is sown, irrigation must take place immediately. Gently irrigate with a hose or a sprinkling can. The garden soil should be completely saturated to a depth of 2” or the potting soil or container should have all of its media (growing material) saturated thoroughly.
A radish must receive a minimum of 1” of rain water per week in a garden environment. Radishes in containers or a bag of potting soil should be monitored, irrigated and allowed to almost dry out (not entirely or to the point of wilting– when a plant begins to look droopy or color changes) before irrigating again.
Keep in mind, plants in a container will require more irrigation applications than those in a garden. A good rule of thumb is to check the moisture of your soil or media by putting your finger down into the soil: if it is moist, let it go, if it is dry then let’s water that baby.
Don’t take a golden sward to cut a radish.—Chinese Proverb (no idea what that means)

Potting Soil: Grab a fresh bag of potting soil. You can follow the same directions as the Instant-Perfect Garden soil or add potting soil to a container that has drainage holes. The potting soil can be put into any container that holds at least a depth of 3”. This can be a trough, a pan, or even buckets. Fill the container to the top with potting soil and follow the sowing directions.
Left: Image of a potting soil or garden soil (topsoil) bag with window removed for direct sowing of seeds.

A Spicy Little Radish: a vegetable that can take your students on a journey around the world, from your school’s farm to the fork and right into their bellies and hearts!
Most students have never even tried a radish. They have no idea about what the radish root or leaf can do for their bodies. Incorporate this STEM lesson and lab into your Ag Ed or FACS classroom.

Radish Cultivation Continued / Thinning: Once radishes have germinated (started growing) and emerged as seedlings (young radishes) that are about 2” tall, you can then thin the seedlings. Thin (reduce the radish stand) so that one plant (a stem with two to four leaves attached) is growing every 1-2” within the drill. Failure to thin will result in shriveled, inedible radish bulbs (swollen root storage structure that is eaten). / Cultivation: Follow these tips for successful radish gardening: / Mulch the radishes with an organic material like compost, straw, or leaf mulch to a depth of 2-3” once seedlings have emerged to prevent weed growth, competition, water loss, and temperature fluctuations. / Irrigate in moderation: never allow the media to become soggy or dry… it’s a happy medium that wins the race. / Do not use high concentrations of fertilizer. Consider an organic product like Garden-tone with a nutrient analysis of 3-4-4 (percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Apply according to the package instructions. / Pest Control: Insects, animals, and weeds oh my! Keep them all within your threshold (tolerable level) for good radish growth. / The root maggot is a common pest but can easily be avoided if using fresh bags of media or by not planting radishes or cole crops (broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower) in the same spot within the past three years. / Sometimes a caterpillar or another insect will leaves holes in the leaves. As long as the entire leaves are not missing, you should be okay. / Animals usually don’t bother radishes. The prickly leaves keep them at bay. / Keep the weeds in check. Mulching will really help to suppress weed growth. Pull other weeds as necessary.
Radish Harvest / Within 20-25 days, harvest of most cultivars (unique breeds) occurs. Harvesting tips: / Check frequently as they mature. Most harvest failures are because they are left too long and will split or become pithy. / Pull the radish from the ground by holding onto the base of the leaves where they meet the bulb. / Remove the leaves immediately for use and wash all parts of the radish.
Storage / Radishes can be stored for one to two weeks in the refrigerator after harvest. Place into plastic storage bags and place in the vegetable crisper.
Culinary Use / Chefs incorporate radishes into many dishes. Aside from salads, they are wonderful in stews, soups, and stir-fries. The leaves can be sautéed and eaten like any other green. Marinate, roast, sauté and pickle radishes. These are wonderful additions to egg and potato salads, slaws, and atop of various sandwiches, tacos, and burgers. Grill them with a steak, create a chilled radish soup or make a gorgeous tea sandwich. Of course, the French eat radishes with just butter and salt. / Did you know? The “hotness” of a radish is based upon the length of time and when the radish is grown and not the size of the radish. The raw flesh has a crisp texture and a pungent, peppery flavor, caused by glucosinolates and the enzyme myrosinase, which combine when chewed to form allyl isothiocyanates, also present in mustard, horseradish, and wasabi.

A Spicy Little Radish: a vegetable that can take your students on a journey around the world, from your school’s farm to the fork and right into their bellies and hearts!
Most students have never even tried a radish. They have no idea about what the radish root or leaf can do for their bodies. Incorporate this STEM lesson and lab into your Ag Ed or FACS classroom.

Recipes / Just use a search engine to find the following: / 13 Tasty Radish Recipes– Real Simple / Chilled Radish Soup– The Washington Post / Don’t Toss the Radish Greens / Roasted Radishes– food.com / Sautéed Radishes– food.com
Resources / Use a search engine and type in Jodi Riedel Prezi Radishes.
Extra Morsels of Radish Knowledge / Raphanus derives from the Greek ra, meaning quickly, and phainomai, meaning to appear. / Radishes are a fleshy, tap root. / Radish bulbs range in size from 1 to 3” long. A German botanist, reported radishes of 100 pounds (45 kg) and roughly three feet in length in 1544, although the only variety of that size today is the Japanese radish. / On December 23rd in Oaxaca, Mexico, thousands of people gather to celebrate Noche de rábanos (Night of the radishes). The focus of this festival, celebrated since 1897, is the creation of intricate sculptures carved from giant radishes, many depicting nativity scenes or saints.
Radish Life Cycle