Chasing the Elusive Tundra Radish

I know that for most of you, it is only a radish, one of the most pedestrian of vegetables.

For me it is my pride and joy - the first vegetable I have ever produced (my children notwithstanding) up here north of sixty.

In my other life I had a large backyard garden which I loved.  From March onwards each year I spent many a late night consulting seed catalogues, drafting layouts and propagating seeds for those plants needing a head start in the relative tropical Montreal climate.  Then came the outdoor work - tidying up, fertilizing, rototilling, planting seeds, planting transplants . . .

After that most of the work was done except for weeding, making sure the cut worms and Colorado potato beetles didn't get my offspring, and watering a bit during hot spells.

I was always successful in most part (except for beets which rarely co-operated).  The fall was spent in pickling and freezing, and a good sized portion of my vegetable needs were filled for the balance of the year before taking out stakes, pulling old plants and generally putting the garden to bed.

But I tell you, I have never had the pride and sheer sense of accomplishment of that first radish from last year.  It was simply the perfect radish - looked great, tangy tasting but not too strong, no splits, and colours borrowed from the Dutch masters.

So I have decided to resurrect my old blog, do some entries on my efforts for 2012 and fill you in on what happened in the greenhouse last year.  And if you behave yourselves, I might even insert a few rants and reminiscences from my, er, salad days.