"Hilling" your radish and carrot seedlings

Last fall I learned about "hilling" dirt up around my carrot seedlings. I'd forgotten that tip until I heard Denise mention it to someone at the garden last week. My carrot and raddish seedlings aren't big enough yet but these Dalita's radishes definitely need some "hilling".

Hilling is just pulling up some soil to cover the exposed root. If you don't cover up the exposed carrot or radish root you end up with green shoulders, a bitter taste and a vegetable that really isn't as good as it could be. Or...you end up with no raddish or carrot because it never really got seated in the soil properly.

Generally speaking, you have to pull soil up over the shoulders of carrot and radish seedlings two times.  But if you notice they are getting exposed again, pull a little more soil up.

Look at the first row of radishes - notice that there are varying amounts of red radish sticking up out of the ground. The 3rd one back isn't sticking out as far but it too needs to be covered up.

This is the same row of radishes but now all but one of the radish plants has dirt snugged up next to them.  But don't worry, as soon as the picture was taken the last radish plant got dirt around it as well.

Luckily for me, Dalita was willing to wait to put dirt around the radishes so I could take all the pictures I needed with the proper light. Thanks!