Katie Herring is sales and marketing manager for Cultivate

IF you visit a town square in Oaxaca in Southwestern Mexico on December 23 you will be greeted by hundreds of radishes carved into beautiful, intricate sculptures of animals, dancers, saints, conquerors and kings.

This is Noche de Rabanos – Night of the Radishes.

The festival itself is over a century old, when rumour has it that in the Vigilia de Navidad market greengrocers would carve radishes into figurines to make their stalls more attractive.

As time went on the figures became popular with buyers, increasing demand and resulting in the elaborate festival they have today.

It has become so popular authorities actually monitor the growth and distribution of the veg used in the competitions.

I’m not sure I’ll be ready to enter into a Night of the Radish competitions any time soon – the best I've manage so far is a very simple flower.

At Cultivate we have just got our first couple of radish harvests from Westmill Organics and the bunches of pink purple mini-globes add a lovely splash of colour to our shelves, as they then do when added to any leafy green salad.

If you’re a grow-your-own type, then you can gain some quick and easy wins with radishes as they will grow almost anywhere in any soil.

Plus they go from seed to plate in around four weeks flat.

If you really can’t wait, radish seeds can be grown in a sprouter and eaten just as you would eat mustard, cress or any other sprouted bean or seed.

And that's not the only mustard connection: the radish's popular peppery flavour is caused by glucosinolates and the enzyme myrosinase. These two combine when chewed to form allyl isothiocyanates which are also present in mustard, horseradish, and wasabi.

Although delightful raw, a dish I discovered last year is roasted radish: coat in oil and a sprinkle with salt and paprika and chuck in with other roast veg.

They come out looking like little rubies, slightly softened and caramelised.

So, if your radish carving skills aren’t up to scratch, at least you can make a delicious meal when you’re done.