The greenhouse radish seduction operation

(Mirabel) Offer local radishes all year round, with a mild taste – and price. By focusing on greenhouse cultivation, the Leciel company intends to meet this challenge. But for this project launched last year to be successful, this often unloved root vegetable will have to charm Quebecers.

“Children are like radishes. If there is, that’s okay, but it’s always better when there isn’t…” This joke, taken from the show Child of the century by Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques, seems to sum up the thoughts of many people. Let’s face it, in a platter of raw vegetables, radishes are often the last to be eaten.

“It’s a vegetable that hasn’t aged well,” admits Steve Bertrand, general manager of Leciel. Despite this observation, he is convinced that radishes have a promising future on the plates of Quebecers. He is so convinced of this that when the time came to find a new crop to sow in the greenhouses of the family business founded by his father Stéphane in 1990, it was this vegetable that his choice fell on.

Why did you opt for this member of the cruciferous family, which also includes broccoli, turnips and cauliflower? “It’s a combination of circumstances,” replies the man who recently took over as general manager of the company formerly known as Serres Bertrand.

Curious to observe how greenhouse cultivation was practiced in Europe, he and his father visited the Netherlands. “We mainly went there to grow peppers and strawberries. By chance, we passed a radish greenhouse. We had never seen that. […] We fell in love with production,” he says, as he shows The Press the company’s vast facilities in Mirabel, with his cousin, Lyna Carpentier, director of communications.

New adventure

Last summer, the greenhouses, which were used for cannabis cultivation from 2017 to 2023, were completely transformed. The equivalent of nearly 1,000 trucks dumped sand there to cover more than five hectares of land.

“Sand or dirt? “, we ask, thinking we heard wrong.

Leciel radishes do indeed grow in the sand, confirms Steve Bertrand. “It’s a real advantage compared to the fields, because it doesn’t get dirty. [Le légume] washes really well,” he points out, taking out a radish from the ground – or rather sand. However, organic matter is added to this soil, including coconut fiber, otherwise “the water would run away and the roots would not be able to retain anything,” he explains.

Heat issue

Today, up to 20 million radishes can grow simultaneously in greenhouses heated with biomass or cooled with a misting system, depending on the season. It is between 13 and 17°C.

This ability to regulate temperature is also an element that differentiates greenhouse cultivation from field cultivation. And this has a direct impact on the taste of the radish, indicates Steve Bertrand.

“In summer, during heatwaves, when it’s over 30 degrees, that’s when your radish becomes spicy,” he explains. Sometimes it gets so spicy it’s bitter. »

According to him, it is this strong taste that has led people to abandon radishes.

And how would he describe this taste, precisely? “It’s soft, easy to digest, fresh and crunchy,” he replies.

“We want to introduce this radish which is not the one we know in Quebec, but which is very well known in Europe,” says Lyna Carpentier. Every time we meet people from the Old Continent, they say that it tastes like their childhood. […] We are almost closer to a cucumber than to the radish we know. »

A promising future

Arriving on the shelves of the main grocery chains last fall, Leciel radishes have already started to gain fans. Grocers, who normally imported this vegetable from Mexico and the United States in the winter, saw their sales increase by more than 40%, says Steve Bertrand.

Encouraging data for the company which hopes that its greenhouse radish will appeal to Quebecers. To make it known, its team is increasing its initiatives. On Saturday, April 27, Leciel is organizing a gourmet event at its Mirabel boutique to showcase its radishes, but also its tomatoes, mushrooms and processed products. A dozen local producers will also be on site during this market-style event.

Visit the Leciel website

Another actor

Leciel is not the only Quebec producer growing radishes in greenhouses. Les Jardins A. Guérin et Fils, better known as JAG, has been doing this since 2020. In Sherrington, in Montérégie, although the majority of its production grows in fields, the company cultivates organic red radishes in greenhouses. While he agrees that indoor growing conditions make it possible to grow a radish “which is not spicy”, Yannick Guérin, from JAG, emphasizes that we can also find this milder taste when the vegetable grows outdoors. According to him, the key to a sweet radish is the internal temperature of the vegetable, which should not exceed a certain degree. The composition of the land used and irrigation are the elements that make it possible to achieve this objective. “Our radishes are rarely spicy, even during the summer season,” he promises. He invites those who, in the past, had a bad experience biting into a radish from their grandmother’s garden to give this “unloved” and “little known to new generations” vegetable a chance. “In salads, it adds crunch and color. […] To try it is to adopt it ! »

Visit the JAG website