Introducing: black radish!

[Annemieke]

I couldn't get through the winter without black radish - ramenas as they call it in Holland, where it is much better known.
It's easy to grow. We've had good and bad years for everything, but the black radish has never failed us yet.
I usually eat them raw with my sandwiches, or grated in salads, but you can also cook them: then they will taste a bit like turnips. Raw they are very much a radish.
I only cook them when I've got plenty: it seems a pity not to use them fresh, when there is so little of that in the winter. They contain a lot of vitamin C and valuable minerals: see http://www.outofstress.com/black-radish-benefits/
Black radishes are very winter hardy and can be left in the ground to be harvested as required. If you sow them in August, you can pull them from about January. Or if you prefer, dig them all up and keep them in a paper sack in the shed.
Before eating/cooking, peel off the black skin as this is very sharp indeed.
One thing is important to know: never keep them in the fridge, or in plastic, even if you have just half a one left. Just a paper bag in a cool place will do.
For recipes, see for instance http://www.coopersfarm.ca/Black-Radish-Recipes.html though as I said, I just gnaw them with my bread-and-cheese!