Ravishing Radish

Ravishing Radish: A DIY Project with your Kids

With Easter just around the corner, get the kids excited and outdoors with this DIY Ravishing Radish growing project. Did you know? Radishes are ready to harvest in only 25 days! Making them the perfect hiding spot for those secret treats and treasure quests. Radishes are also loaded with fabulous vits and mins. When transformed into candy radish apples, they become the perfectly disguised veggie sweetie.

Planting Radishes

• Prepare a loose, nutrient-rich soil bed for the babies in a sunny spot. Veggie compost is available at your GCA Garden Centre, where you can also purchase radish seeds.
• Sow the seeds directly into your beds by popping a seed on your finger, then gently pressing it down into the soil about half a cm deep. Cover the small holes by sprinkling soil over the top.
• Water lightly once sowed and continue to water daily. Make sure your soil doesn’t dry out completely, but doesn’t stay muddy either.
• After just 3 weeks, you can check the progress of your radishes by unearthing some of the top soil to see the gorgeous bulb.

Top tip: Pull younger radishes for crisp roots and a milder flavour. After 20 days, pull one out and test it for yourself. Radishes left in the ground too long will be very hot and pithy in taste.

Candy Radish Recipe

Ingredients:

• 12 washed and dried radishes
• 12 long skewer sticks
• 3 cups of sugar
• Half a cup of light corn syrup
• 1 cup of water
• Half a teaspoon of red food colouring
• A cooking thermometer
• A sheet of baking paper

Method:

• Combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.
• Bring it to a boil and cook the mixture until it reaches 150°C (the hard crack stage).
• Remove the candy mixture from the heat and carefully stir in the red food colouring.
• One by one, dip the radishes into the candy mixture, swirling to coat them thoroughly and allowing any excess to drip back into the pan.
• Transfer the coated apples to the baking sheet and allow to cool until the candy has fully hardened.

*Top tip: Pick young radishes for a mild zing that will complement the sweet candy coating nicely. Small radishes can also be made into sweet-zesty candied lollies on a stick.  

Enjoy sowing ravishing radishes, reinventing the candy apple, and Easter treasure hunts in the garden! Radishes are a great snack for the Easter Bunny and make super hiding spots for chocolate eggs. This DIY is a great opportunity to show kids that having green fingers is cool and sweet. Pulling their own radishes from the ground offers an exciting reward to the young gardener, who will certainly be telling the family that THEY did it all on their own – how awesome!