What I learned about growing French breakfast radishes in the fall in Southern Ontario (Canada) climate?
The seed package indicated 23 days to harvest but due to the cooler fall climate and reduced daylight, the suggested days to harvest was far exceeded. I planted the radish seeds into the soil in my garden on Sept 13, but the first harvest was not ready until Nov 1 and even then they were a little small, and the flavour was mild and the texture was not as crisp as you would expect, but still very tasty and refreshing. The greens of the radishes can also be eaten. I used them in my morning smoothie.
The above two pictures was taken on October 31.
During Sept 13 to Nov 1, luckily there was never any temperature below zero (Celsius) although radishes are frost hardy. By the time we entered the month of October, I covered the radishes with some cheese cloth I had extra lying around my home. This prevented animals from eating the radish greens and also kept them a bit warmer (but the cloth was very thin so the extra warmth was not very dramatic); however, doing this meant more of the sunlight was blocked, which attributed further to their slow growth.
My cheese cloth that covered my small radish patch.
The above two photos are: (TOP) two radishes harvested on Nov 1, (BOTTOM) seeds of French breakfast radishes.
What I would do differently moving forward? I would plant the seeds a couple of weeks earlier (such as around Sept 1). As long as the weather is not very hot at this time, this should be fine.
Chowcipes 