Selecting for flavor in root vegetables

So, I just went through my entire seed collection yesterday, and have decided that I need to grow out a large number of seeds to get some fresh stock again.  Some of these varieties are root crops like radishes, carrots, beets, and turnips.  I know some of them only produce seed on the 2nd year, so I'm wondering how to go about this?  I can plant say 8 varieties of radish, selecting for vigorous growth above and below ground first.  The trick is, how do I go about taste testing each one of hundreds of roots, but still keeping them viable for seed production in the 2nd year?  Will they regrow if I were to cut a small piece off the side for sampling?  Do they need to dry or scab over before replanting?  Do they do well in a basement or cold outbuilding over winter?  Eventually, I plan to only maintain one jar of each seed type, but now I need to refine the traits that I'm aiming to keep for cross pollination.  I'm open to any input that anyone has in this regard.  The same goes for carrots and beets.  TIA

Hi Cy,
I know that people select varieties that taste good all the time. However, I want to point out, that based on my research of people doing the actual research on food/plants/taste/nutrients... mineral uptake is the biggest factor in taste. You can take two of the same variety, and plant one in poor soil with little nutrient availability, and the other in rich, living soil with great nutrient availability... and they will taste very different.

By all means, target for taste, but from what I understand, getting your soil healthy will increase the flavor for all of the veggies.

I believe Joseph Lofthouse cuts a bit off the shoulder of the root crop to taste test in the fall.  Then lets them sit in a root cellar type arrangement over winter where that damage seals itself off, then plant them out in the early spring.  At least that's my recollection...

Matt,

You are absolutely correct.  I've said the same thing myself to others.  My dad had a vegetable garden all of my life.  He grew carrots once, and while they grew very well, eaten raw, they tasted absolutely awful.  He never grew them again.

Good food for thought, thanks!

Mike,

Now that you mention it, I remember reading something about that, but didn't know exactly how it worked.

Hi there!

I want to try this landracing gardening for developing dry farming varieties in the mediterranean. I thought radishes would work well because they grow so fast that they can produce a yield with just a couple of rainy weeks.
However, how can I check the crop is fine (I prefer it less spicy) without ruining the seeds?
In a previous comment it says taking the shoulder and replanting. Is it possible to take a bite from the root without harvesting it? Would this work with carrots too? They don't taste the same near the leaves than under the bulb.

Abraham Palma wrote:Is it possible to take a bite from the root without harvesting it?

Ha ha! I think you'd need to pull it up first. I'm just imagining you crouching down to take a bite!

However, many roots can regrow from quite a small portion, certainly if the leaf growing point is included: I'm thinking carrots here, I remember growing them at least for a while from a cut off top in a saucer of water. Others will grow from quite a small portion of taproot: Dandelion, I'm looking at you! Some roots are pretty guaranteed to die unless there is the growing shoot. I find docks will die if I cut them below the leaf attachment 99 times out of 100.
The ability to regrow may be a factor of climate too. My climate is mild and moist. In a hotter more arid climate the roots may be less likely to survive, or need a larger amount of flesh to recover.
I do think that radish spiciness will be due to growing environment as well as genetics, but hopefully you can find one that tends to be milder in a dry summer.
I have tried replanting just the tops of some of my neeps (rutabaga) this year and so far it looks like they are flowering well. I would say try a few ways and see what works for you (and then let us know!)

I bet you can grow a radish, pull it, take a bite, and if you like it, replant to get seed. The more light and friable your soil is, the better. It'll take some time sending out replacements for all the root-hairs that you broke during harvest, and repairing the wound you created when sampling, but radish are quick growers. It might also just bolt using the energy stored in the root and not worry too much about repairs.

Hehe, I wouldn't mind to crouch and bite, but I was thinking on using a small knife to cut a bite without taking the plant, just to increase the chance of survival.

Thanks, Christopher. They are fast growers, and that's what encourages me to try it. We don't have many rainy days, but it sometimes happens.

I taste root crops either by slicing off a side, and leaving it in the ground, or by digging, cutting off a side, or bottom, and replanting.

Plants that really thrive in my ecosystem taste much better than those that struggle to survive.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
Plants that really thrive in my ecosystem taste much better than those that struggle to survive.

Gotcha! So even if I cannot taste it, just by selecting plants that thrive, it improves.

I've bought eight radishes varieties from a portuguese seed company, hope they are open-pollinated, to be planted in october when rainy season should start, even if the last three years we haven't had any rains of value in Automn. (it still rains well in Spring, but less frequently. Growth is slow in Winter).
I'm gonna try this method: dig a 10-15cm hole, fill it with home-made compost (kitchen scraps + cardboards + a bit of dirt from the land), and seed a bunch of seeds per hole, to be trimmed thinned once they sprout. No watering, no extra fertilization. Maybe adding some wild brassica roots for extra microbs.

Joseph this is jimbotomateo from tomatoville. I got some seeds from you about 7 years back. I need more. Can you contact me?

I haven't had that luxury yet as I have been on a spend as little as possible journey. I have saved seeds from carrots for a few years now and I'm on the 5th generation I think now and I was able to select one that grew massive that I will save the seeds from. Didn't even think to taste it but from the seeds I'll try tasting next generations to see which to save next. As others have said though the soil health and growing conditions make a huge difference as you can find for yourself by planting seeds in multiple conditions like I tried. Also in the future I think I'll be planting shade crops to the south of my carrots so they can last longer in the Hawaii sun without going to seed.