In both cases, anything that didn’t form a root was left to flower and then produce seed pods. These pods taste remarkably like a radish and you’ll harvest lots of them. There’s even a variety of radishes with the lovely name of ‘Rat Tail’ from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds that doesn’t form a root, but a long bean like seed pod. Another bonus is that the flowers are attractive to pollinators. Gardeners that help pollinators, get help from those pollinators in the garden.

They are best harvested when young and most of the recipes I’ve seen involve pickling them. My favorite way to use them is either raw in salads, which always confused guests, or sauteed in some butter with fresh garlic.

I also left some plants alone and as the pods get bigger they will eventually turn brown, hard and will produce seed which can be planted in the fall when things cool down. Radishes love cool weather and perform best in good garden soil amended with compost.

Harvest the tasty roots, but don’t discount the seed pods as a fun and plentiful treat.

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Here’s the outtake, where one of our chickens wanted to be a star!

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This soda should be allowed to just begin to ferment; you’re doing it for the carbonation, not for the alcohol.

Makes 1.5 – 2 quarts of Mugwort & Grapefruit Soda.

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Mugwort & Grapefruit Soda

This recipe comes from Ellen Zachos' book the Wildcrafted Cocktail and is crafted with only four simple ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups warm water
• 3 grapefruits juiced
• 4 cups mugwort leaves

Instructions

• Combine the sugar, warm water, and grapefruit juice in a half-gallon jar. Stir or shake to dissolve the sugar.
• Add the mugwort leaves and poke them under the liquid so they are completely submerged. Cover the jar with a clean dish towel and set it on the counter to ferment, stirring once a day.
• After 3 to 5 days you should notice bubbles when you stir. This is the beginning of fermentation. Continue to stir once a day and start tasting
• When the soda is nice and bubbly, strain out the solids and set them aside. Pour the soda into sterilized 1-liter plastic bottles, leaving several inches of headspace at the top.
• Leave the bottles at room temperature for 2 days, checking the carbonation level once a day by giving them a quick burp. When they fully carbonated, move the bottle to the refrigerator to stop fermentation.
• Spread the solids (grapefruit pulp and mugwort leaves) on a dehydrator sheet and dry until they're brittle. These can be ground as needed and combined with the salt to rim a Primitive Paloma.

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