About

The Skinny:

The Radish is a blog about edible gardening and “the good life”, compiled by keen home growers Justin and Kylie Russell.

The Long Version:

In a society that appears to be drunk on consumerism, carelessness, and greed, the practice of growing your own food is perhaps the most subversive of acts. When you’re out pottering on a glorious summer afternoon, it might not feel like you’re doing anything particularly subversive. But you are. To those corporate and political masters of the universe, edible gardening is a very dangerous idea. Put yourself in the shoes of a supermarket CEO. Every time someone picks an apple from an organically-grown tree in their own backyard, and eats it with delight, that’s one less apple purchased from a deeply flawed industrial food system. Same goes for every tomato. Every sprig of thyme. Indeed, every radish.

The word radish comes from the Latin radix, which means root. The word radical also comes from radix, and describes someone who favours fundamental change at the root cause of an issue. What are the issues when it comes to food? There are too many to list here, but for starters try pollution, soil degradation, food miles (or kilometres, as the case may be), corporate control of seeds, toxic chemicals, genetic engineering and animal welfare. What sort of fundamental change do we advocate at The Radish? Food that’s grown using organic methods, in back and front yards across the country, by ordinary householders with a determination to live happy, more productive lives. Edible gardening is radical gardening – from roots to fruits.

The Radish aims to do three things: offer practical advice on growing fruits, vegies and herbs; get you thinking about the bigger issues of food and society; and celebrate the sheer joy of growing, cooking, and eating in harmony with the seasons. The good life is within reach, and The Radish is aimed at helping you along the path.

(p.s. If you can’t or won’t grow your own food, for whatever reason, the next best thing is to buy it from a small, local, family farm.)

About Justin and Kylie Russell

We began growing our own food in 1999, when we won 12 bales of hay in a competition at a gardening show in Toowoomba. Being short on livestock, we used the hay to make a no-dig vegie patch and the rest, as they say, is history – we’ve been enthusiastic gardeners ever since. Our latest garden comprises almost two acres of land outside the village of Hampton, north of Toowoomba in Queensland, where we grow cool climate food plants and are raising our three young children in rural bliss. Click here to read more about our story and garden.

Justin is a gardening columnist with a decade’s worth of experience writing for a range of national publications. During winter he runs Thistlebrook Nursery, a bare-root fruit tree business selling heritage varieties via mail order. When not gardening Justin enjoys building things from wood, reading, and indulging a passion for good food. He writes most of The Radish’s words and takes most of the photos. To read Justin’s “official” bio, click here to go to the Thistlebrook site.

Justin’s favourite fruit is the apple and his favourite vegetable is the potato. Mashed, boiled, baked or fried – any which way is welcome.

Kylie is a primary school music teacher who works a day per week teaching piano at a local school. On the other days she leads a playgroup, keeps the household functioning and in her spare time, loves to read, bake, and sew. Her roles with The Radish are co-gardener, chief jam maker, proof reader extraordinaire, and occasional photographer.

Kylie’s favourite fruit is the raspberry, and her favourite vegetable is the pea. ‘Yorkshire Hero’, specifically.