Denise Domning's Blog, page 39

July 7, 2011

Radishes

I hate radishes. Eating them, that is. To me, there's nothing nice about their taste. As far as I'm concerned I might as well put a handful of peppercorns in my mouth and start chewing. But, today I have a whole appreciation for them.

The Javelina were back last night.

There's a pattern to see here. They're on a four day rotation, with us being the last stop on the cycle. And, I'm almost positive they're waiting with bated breath–just like I am–for the blackberries to ripen. I ate my first ripe one today. Until BB-day, they're scrounging around my gardens, looking for something fun to eat…and it's not RADISHES!

I always plant radishes with my carrots. Why? Because somewhere I read that radishes help carrots germinate. Or maybe it's just was that you use radishes to mark the spot where you planted your carrots, since carrot seeds are miniscule. So when I threw out my carrot seeds up on Garden 2, I added two packages of radishes. And the radish seeds did what they always do: they sprouted like crazy. When I went back and planted new melons at the far end of Garden 2 I did consider that those radishes stood like a wall between the driveway and the melons.

Guess what? Javelina don't like radishes any more than I do. This morning their footie-prints (thank you, Bugs Bunny) were marking up the edge of Garden 1–the flower garden, where they nibbled the decoy watermelon down to the nubbin–and well into Garden 2. In Garden 2, the biggest, leafiest of the plants besides the beans, which the Javelina have already learned they don't like, were the radishes. So, they gave them a try.