Garden Note - Radish Seed Pods

If you've grown radishes, you know that eventually, the plants bolt, or go into bloom.  When that happens, the roots get corky and  unpleasant.  I've always either pulled them out at this point, or let them go to produce seed for the next season's crop.  Today at the Madison farmer's market, I learned that there's a sweet spot between those two options that I've been missing.  That sweet spot is radish seed pods.  We bought some of the green seed pods  at Madison's farmers market today (photo at right, bottle cap for reference).  They've got a crisp sugar snap pea texture, and a nice flavor - somewhere between a fresh sugar snap pea and a radish in flavor.  I'm told you can eat them fresh, stir fry them or pickle them, and I know they're a tasty treat eaten out of hand!  Sadly, I didn't plant radishes this year, but I'll definitely be doing it next year.  Maybe I'll even pick up some seeds from an heirloom variety with large spicy pods and a neglible root.  Its called Rat Tail Radish, or Snake Radish.  The pods on those apparently grow over eight inches in length!