Newbie question about harvesting radishes

[limabean]

I'm growing my first vegetable garden right now, and my first veggie is ready for harvesting and I realized I don't really know how to do it.

I planted cherry belle radishes, and today is day 22, when they should be ready to harvest. I've read that radishes should be harvested young to avoid them turning spongy or woody. Am I supposed to harvest them all today and just try to use them quickly, or should I pick a few at a time as we need them? How long before they'll be unusable if I leave some in the ground? And how long will they hold up in the refrigerator? 

[Jenn_M]

You don't have to harvest them all at once :) .  They do keep for quite a while in the fridge though. 

[limabean]

Hmm, so I went to investigate them today and they're all reeeaallly tiny, like 1cm across. So I leave them in the ground until they're about 1 inch in diameter, even though it's been the right amount of days, right? (That's the diameter the seed packet said they should get to for this variety.) 

[tinuviel_k]

Yep, just leave them in the ground. The maturity date is just an average. Depending on your weather and soil it can be longer or shorter.