WHAT’S FRESH: BUYING OPPORTUNITIES : Relish a Radish : Hot summer varieties and milder winter specimens liven up a salad with color and snap.

Summer is without a doubt the time for salads. And what makes a fresh salad come alive are the various tastes and textures of garnishes tossed in with the green leaves--one of them being summer radishes.

Used almost solely for salads and appetizers, radishes--hot or mild, white and elongated or red and bulb-shaped--are among the many crops grown in Ventura County.

“There are several different varieties of radishes grown here. The most common is the Cherry Bell,” said Joe Boskovich, vice president of Boskovich Farms in Oxnard. Boskovich Farms sells its crops to supermarket chains.

Boskovich said the taste of the radish, whether hot or mild, is determined by the variety. But generally hot radishes are grown during the summer and mild versions are grown in winter.

Four different varieties are presently available at the Underwood Farms roadside stand at 5696 Los Angeles Ave., Somis.

According to manager Karen Collins, the Ventura Farmers Market usually has about five varieties of radishes that are brought in from growers outside Ventura County. The market is held from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays at Main Street and Mills Road, and on Saturdays at Santa Clara and Figueroa streets in Ventura.

There’s usually 10 to 13 radishes per bunch, and a bunch is going for from 35 cents to 50 cents, Collins said.

Lily Takashi is a small grower based in Camarillo. Each week she travels to the Ventura Farmers Market and sets up shop. “Saturday we will have carrots, red beets, spinach and Swiss chard. Most people grow the red variety, but if you’re looking for the green, well, we have it.” Looking for a bouquet of Cosmos? The daisy-like flower also will be available at Takashi’s booth.

The season is nearing its end, but Saticoy Berry Farms, 1070 Wagon Wheel Road, Oxnard, is picking strawberries for another week.

Trader Joe’s, 1751 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura, just received a shipment of desulfured dried apricots, Assistant Manager Scott Walsh said. “The fruit is sprayed with sulfur, is then washed off and just a trace of sulfur remains.” Without the sulfur, the fruit loses its moistness,” said Walsh, “and is hard to chew.”