When to pick root vegetables

[FriscoSoxFan]

rashishes, carrots, garlic, onions, etc. How do you know how big they are without digging them up?

[shazzbat]

You can gently shift some of the soil from around the shoulder of them to see how big it is. Then put it back if it's not to your liking. Alternately you can pull the odd one, and if it's too small for you, leave it a while. In the case of radishes, they usually could do with a bit of thinning anyway, so pull the ones which need thinning, this will tell you how they're doing and give the rest a bit more room. And remeber that small ones are often the tastiest or tenderest, you don't really want massive ones unless it's for showing.

In the case of onions and garlic, the foliage will dry up and turn brown when it's had enough.

Steve

[Saltspringer]

Also, the ones with the biggest roots USUALLY (not always) have the biggest tops - tallest, most leaf mass, etc.

[Tony]