{"id":65515,"date":"2026-03-27T16:27:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65515"},"modified":"2026-03-30T04:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:33:54","slug":"the-radish-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65515","title":{"rendered":"Radishes, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At WLBOTT<\/strong>, we recognize our employee’s sometimes intense personal relationships with their radishes. As part of our work\/life balance, we encourage our employees to share their feelings. This includes our annual “Bring Your Radishes to Work” day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Nuts and Bolts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The radish (Raphanus sativus or Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus) is a flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its large taproot is commonly used as a root vegetable[1]<\/sup>, although the entire plant is edible<\/strong><\/em> and its leaves are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable. Originally domesticated in Asia, radishes are now grown and consumed globally.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup> Many here at WLBOTT HQ<\/strong> are unfamiliar with the concept of “vegetables”, so for their reference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vegetables <\/strong>are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food[2]<\/sup>.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/sup> To continue this deep dive…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Food <\/strong>is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Back to the Nuts and Bolts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Being relatively easy to grow and quick to harvest, radishes are often planted by novice gardeners…. Radishes are a common garden crop in many parts of the world, and the fast harvest cycle makes them particularly suitable for children’s gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radishes are annual or biennial brassicaceous crops grown for their swollen tap roots which can be globular, tapering, or cylindrical. The root skin colour ranges from white through pink, red, purple, yellow, and green to black, but the flesh is usually white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The radish is a diploid species, and has 18 chromosomes (2n=18). It is estimated that the radish genome contains between 526 and 574 Mb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production<\/strong>
Using 2003\u20132004 data, several sources report annual world production of radishes to be about 7 million tonnes, produced mainly by China, Japan, and South Korea, and representing roughly 2% of global vegetable production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noche de los <\/strong>R<\/strong>\u00e1banos
<\/strong>Citizens of Oaxaca, Mexico, celebrate the Night of the Radishes<\/strong> (Noche de los r\u00e1banos) on December 23 as a part of Christmas celebrations. This folk art competition uses a large type of radish up to 50 cm (20 in) long and weighing up to 3 kg (7 lb). Great skill and ingenuity are used to carve these into religious and popular figures, buildings, and other objects, and they are displayed in the town square.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the chemicals which make radishes so radishy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n