Radishes (botanical name, Raphanus) are edible root vegetables. They come in several shapes, sizes and colours, each with their own unique flavour.
Radishes are often used to prepare vegetable salad and as herbs. They are quite medicinal vegetables with lots of health benefits attached to consuming them. Radishes are used in curing gastrointestinal disorders, treating bile duct infections, diabetes treatments amongst a host of other positive effects.
While the radish is an easy to grow vegetable, its storage after harvesting is a source of concern to farmers. Like most other vegetables out there, radishes will get all soft and spoilt if they are not stored properly.
Therefore, in today’s article, we’re going to show you how you can store radishes and preserve your radishes so they don’t get all soft and mushy.
How to store radishes
1. By Hydrocooling
This method helps prolong the shelf-life of your radishes by three days and five days if you store it in the fridge.
To start the hydrocooling process, fill a bath or bowl with about 2 inches of cool water. Make sure the bowl is big enough to contain all your radishes.
After that, rinse your radishes thoroughly. Proceed to then place your radishes in the bowl and make sure they are partially submerged. That’s it, you’ve hydrocooled your radishes. You can then proceed to store them on shelves – with the bowl covered, of course! – or keep in the refrigerator.
Note that this is a short term storage method and radishes should be used within 3 days and if you are using a fridge, 5 days.
2. Keep the radishes in a plastic bag
Like the hydrocooling method, this is a short term storage option and will help keep your radishes fresh for just 1 or 2 weeks.
Storing your radishes in a plastic bag doesn’t imply lumping them all together. Doing this, you risk drying them all out.
To use this method successfully, you’ll need a plastic bag and paper towels or tissue. To start, lay a paper towel at the base of the plastic bag. Then, carefully arrange radishes on top of the paper towel. After this, lay another paper towel on the radishes and arrange another set of radishes on it.
Continue stacking radishes and paper towels like this until there’s no more space in your plastic bag. Ensure you place a paper towel at the very top of the stack and remove excess air by pressing down on the bag.
Seal the plastic bag and keep it in your refrigerator.
3. Just leave the radishes in the ground
This method works particularly well in very cold temperatures. When the weather turns cold and snow or frost forms, radish roots will stop growing. You then need to cover the radish roots with a thick layer of straw or hay to make sure the ground remains frozen. This means you can then harvest the radishes a few at a time when you need to.
4. Store the radishes in a basement or cellar
If you want to preserve your radishes for a stretch of time, then this is the best method to employ.
To store your radishes in a roof cellar or basement, follow these steps:
- Fill a wooden box with cool, damp sand. Make sure the crate is big enough to comfortably accommodate your radishes.
- Remove and discard the radish tops.
- Placed the unwashed radishes in the box. Make sure the roots don’t come in contact with the damp sand, else they rot.
- Cover the radishes completely with damp sand.
With this method, you can store your radishes for up to three months!
5. By cold canning
The cold canning method will keep your radishes fresh and crisp for about a week. To do this:
- Remove the top and root strands and then wash your radishes.
- Place the radishes in a clean canning jar. Take care not to overstuff the jars.
- Fill the jar with cool water and make sure all the radishes are submerged
- Close the jar and store in the fridge.
If you have other methods of storing radishes, you can let us know in the comments.
Also you can read my post on sustainable farming and backyard farming.
