The Daikon Radish is a friend to many!
Gardeners, food enthusiasts, and permacuture homesteaders all agree, the Daikon Radish is an incredible plant. Here on our homestead, the "soil" is hard and rocky. It would take you a long time and a lot of effort to till it, and you would need one powerful machine or a pick-axe to do the job. When I have as much work to get done as I do, I'd rather not do it all myself.
Anytime that I am able to enlist plants or animals to help get the job done, it is a huge bonus for us. I share the mentality of @bluerthangreen when it comes to utilizing the resources that we have been given upon this earth in a way that benefits everyone involved. Pigs, goats, and even radishes all have specific niches to fill and jobs to do, so when we are proper stewards of the earth and work with the natural characteristics of the plants and animals around us, incredible things can happen.
As a gardener, I enjoy reaping the return on my investment and I enjoy delicious, home-grown food from a trusted source. Radishes can be tasty anyway, but when they are grown in hot weather, they really heat up. Unlike many other radishes, the Daikon can grow to some impressive lengths. The one I am showing in this post is "just a little guy."
Since plant life feeds so much other life, it is important to make sure that you create areas in which your plants can thrive. The Daikon does this in many ways. First off, the deep roots grow quickly and break open the ground. If the radish is left to finish its life-cycle and die in the hole that it was planted in, the roots decompose rapidly and feed the microorganisms living in the soil. In this way, it is not just opening up the soil, but building the soil as well.
Also, the top of the Daikon is also impressive. It can be planted as a cover crop because the leaves of the radish grow thick and long, blocking out the sun for other plants that may be trying to grow in that area. Since everyone hates weeding, why not grow a plant that fights the weeds for you?
Of course you can still pull and eat the radishes. I love to do that, but I also share. The leafy tops make a good treat for our rabbits when fed to them in moderation. It is a great way to mix up their diet a little bit while still providing our own food.
I like to call Daikons my "Soil Drills" and am amazed at the work that they can do. I long for rich, organic soil to grow my food in, and am pleased with the role that Daikon radishes will play in that goal. Not only will these radishes be used for food for my family, they will break up the soil, build the soil, fight the weeds, and feed the rabbits while they are at it! And all it takes to get that party started is to plant a seed!
here's the proof:As always, I'm @papa-pepper and
proof-of-edible-soil-drill
Congrats on being my first fulllength read on Steemit! Haha. I'm new. Anyway, I was wondering, how little of water can radishes survive on? It seems like it would be a good way to srtart out some areas on my 20 acres, but we do not have water rights, so irrigation for large or many areas is a no-go. Do you have to really dig much to plant them in the firs t place?
I like the idea of using them as a cover crop and soil building. How do you think ground squirrels would like them? They're real pains out here and we have no garden this year due to them. (We're going with raised beds next year!)
Thanks for the informative post! :)
New here too. I used tillage radishes along with legumes as a fall cover crop when I was converting a couple of acres of former dryland farm ground back to native grasses when I bought my place three years ago. I'd just broadcast seed with no tillage in September on the high plains. I imagine the birds ate quite a bit of the seed but you can find it in bulk at reasonable rates.
They survive on pretty little moisture -- my locale average slightly over an inch/month for Sept/Oct before the temperature is sufficiently cold to winter kill them. I only ate a few and left the rest to winter kill and decompose over the winter. Make nice little empty pockets for the spring moisture to sink into the ground like a natural aerator.
I just scattered them on the existing ground on my acreage and have not watered them. The ones in the post were from the garden, but others are growing on my land without "being planted" or watered, I just spread the seed.
Not sure about ground squirrels, but they may leave them alone.
Yeah these little buggers, they're like mini prairie dogs, they eat everything.
So you didn't even have to scuff up the land?? Awesome!
Good work on getting the word out about how things like daikon radishes can help bring about the restoration of land and produce quality food for humans and animals alike. Is that particular little guy from seed you just planted a month or so back?
Yup, it was just a seed a few weeks ago, look at that little guy now!
That's impressive! I need to buy a few thousand pounds of seed to cover the land as weed control.
Love your stuff. Love your donation.
you should check out this post :P
https://steemit.com/gardening/@mrainp420/the-birth-of-a-beautiful-garden-and-some-hot-peppers
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following category:Congratulations @papa-pepper!
I've heard of them but never knew what they looked like. Great post.
Now you know! Thanks!
cool idea, been reading with interest. Self reliance is quite interesting: Have you heard of the open ecology project ? Looks right up your alley! it is basically open sourcing a whole bunch of machines to establish civilization, a lot of agricultural ones, and the idea is to be able to bootstrap your whole economy with it. Making your own production tools like machine shop tools instead of buying them you make your own, all the way up and down the value chain. Fascinating stuff.
Interesting, I had not heard of it specifically. Thanks!
Thought you'd like it. Would love for these guys to start steeming so I could support the design and prototype building! They have been really grinding away since years. Not easy to realise but seems so potentially great!
wow....I love "green"....upvote and resteem for the "Soil Drills"
Thanks for the gardening related post. Just a quick note about tilling here... Tilling might be ok for a little garden but for farming it's terrible. Till farming causes a highly significant loss of top soil.
Wow, I thought I knew a lot about gardening but here is something I did not know. Thank you so much for the education. Now you see this is why I like this community STEEMIT. and there are no ad's.
I've not heard of using a radish in this way. It's a very good idea that sounds like it may have been used for thousands of years. I've tried to dig on ridge tops and other things for commercial construction, you can imagine the strength that must take for these radishes to break that kind of thing up. It's amazing if you think about it thanks for the good article and I'm going to follow you look forward to more articles like this
You can use daikon radish instead of cabbage in your next batch of homemade coleslaw. You can bake, broil or steam them. You can use them in just about any Asian flavored dish such as stir fry. They are delicious in place of ordinary radishes. There are many different varieties of radishes, there is even one that can reach 100 lbs called Sakurajima Mammoth and they are delicious with a sweet mild flavor!
Cool! Useful and delicious! Upvoted and followed. Looking forward to more of your posts on nature.
This is a good example of sustainability @papa-pepper, great post. I am sure that many people in this platform will learn a lot ftom your posts here..I am number one!!! thanks for sharing and keep up the good work
Nice work, I like gardening, gardening is a natural way of living, source of happiness, it allow one to be closer to nature, full of nondestructive exercises. great job @papa-pepper .
Good advice, thanks!
I also find that composing and vermiculture (using worms) is a good way to improve and cultivate and even generate soil. Adding stone dust (crushed rock, essentially) also may have had some beneficial effect on my soil. See this for details:
https://remineralize.org/
Yup, vermiculture is some great stuff too!
I might have to try these! Glad I followed you for the steem-pocalypse game, I didn't expect to find good permaculture-ie stuff this way, too!
awsome!
Whatever it is that I post, I hope that it is good! Thanks!
It looks perfect... How much did it cost you to buy it for me?
lol
Didnt ask, many tourists was there. I just bought a pile of peppers, enough for a year of spicy meals:)
At least you know exactly what type of soil and conditions it was grown in and that there is no poisons in your soil
You are what you eat
Absolutely! I know the importance of that!
They grow so fast. Any recipes?
Cut into slices, lightly coat with olive oil and salt, and roast with beets and carrots. Delish!
Sounds yummy.. tks...
Always glad to help a fellow mike :)
That sounds good!
Mostly I eat them raw, although they are excellent with a little lime juice and chile powder too!
meep
Thank you for chipping meep.. you da best..
meep
Your welcome...
meep
Nifty, like a natural compost injection wherever you plant them.
You have said that very well!
wow dude. You're the real deal! As advanced as crypto, but old school farmer! Looks like you will be fine when the shtf. Smarter then the rest of the sheeple! Got any tips for a canadian who can't grow shit in the winter :)
Snowcones?
Fak! I was hopeful for some other kind of advice. You should really be called Pappa-Prepper.
Purple kale bearbear! Loads of nutrition and frost tolerant. Somewhat at least haha, Canada might be a bit much ;-)
thanks.. frost tolerant ehhhhh!? Gets me wondering how the hell the natives got kicked off their own land. They survived the climate. I guess the Europeans had the skill as well (aside from learning how to beat scurvy). The natives taught them to boil pine and drink it for the vitamin C deficiency.
I guess they blew the frost away with their weapons of metal. The eastern bison was a frost tolerant meal I'm sure. Sad though, there are undoubtedly regrets about the assistance provided that led to the later struggles of the natives
oh all but wiped out or in reserves. It's tragic and even more sad world history.
Cold frames can extend your season. Look into cool and cold weather crops
I grow these too. Share them with my chickens
You should!
OMG you look like Johnny Depp :)
You are the fifth or sixth person to tell me that on steemit!
I like radishes. I am mostly familiar with the little red variety. The one you have in the photo and has a shape like a carrot. I am not familiar with it.
But, I am thinking that radishes have a similar taste. If you taste one. You would know by taste, it was another variety.
Thank you for showing us these.@papa-pepper
Francis
Yup, they taste the same.
Does it taste like a carrot? or a beat? or something else?
Like a radish, they are hot right now.
Just did this with white icicle radishes for our cows, rabbits, and chickens. works like a charm! I'll have to size up to daikon next time.
Nothing beats life of forager!....They live in a world of their own!
I have never heard of those. The rabbits love the greens. Nom...Nom...Nom..Nom
lol bro you resemble saltbae with those glasses :D
Who?
Man, you are doing so many impressive things that I can only think of them. I don't know how you can manage all of them, but I admire you! Cheers to pepper family!
Darn, that size in just a few weeks ?
You've GOT to show us one of the bigger specimens when they come around :)
The rabbits look REALLY happy :)
Perfect!
You always have such great advice!
good article...and thanks, I plan on planting them asap. No bunnies though. nuts! (ha)
Yes!! When I lived on a CSA farm in Ohio, we grew tons of these. Even managed to sell some at market to people who loved learning about the other reason for growing them. Its great to roast them with beets and see how they soak up the red color from the beets.
Don't you just love God's green earth...... everything we need!
Absolutely, everything we need!
Very impressive work. I've never grown radish before, but it's excellent in some stews. Didn't know that they can be used to fight weeds. Being able to feed the leaves to the rabbits to minimize waste keep your rabbits healthy and save on feed sounds awesomely useful. I'd love to see your whole garden, very interesting stuff! Thanks @papa-pepper
Thank you for checking it out!
Right on @papa-pepper! Hey, if you're into soil health, check out the free library at http://www.soilandhealth.org/. Also, you might dig (no pun intended) the book "Weeds, Guardians of the Soil". Love me some healthy thriving soil!
Very cool, thank you!
Totes! Always happy to share sources of amazing knowledge on growing stuff, I love the gardening ideas that came out of the early 20th century before they had pesticides and when everything was organic by default.
That's a really good way to break up that clay! And tasty too!
Dual purpose! Good stuff!
Hey there! Thanks for interesting article. Just reminding...
Help us to save the Abongphen Highland Forest in Cameroon with Steemit!
Follow us, upvote, comment, resteem. Each and every single steem benefited here is going to be used to forest conservation. Thank you very much for joining us!
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This is...really smart! I hadn't thought about using large, root based plants to break up the soil for me...We are looking into combing a portable chicken coop with goats to help weed and re-fertilize the areas they are "pinned" to. Once they cover and area, pick up and move over to the next square. But using radishes...brilliant! That is MUCH less work.
Glad you like the idea!
Like is an understatement. You have blown my mind. And, I kinda feel slow for not realizing this earlier. I mean, PLANTS have ROOTS that grow THROUGH the soil...so simple! I really like how you are going to leave them to decompose in the ground to add nutrients to the soil.
Great post! I am addicted to a daikon sprout grown locally. Have you tried the sprouts @papa-pepper? I am thinking of planting some but not sure what part is the edible part. Looks like the groundcover can be eaten? Fantastic looking daikon!
Appreciate your great work papa!! Enjoy your life.
I love the raw crunch ans flavor of a daikon, so tasty! I am Bobby from FlavCity and I just joined, I'm stoked to post and share all of my recipes. My friend Allas Yummy Food turned me on to Steemit! I am going to post a recipe for BBQ ribs soon, hope you can check it out :)
Excellent article, new and great information, for me at least. Many benefits even if someone doesn't like to eat them.
That's right, everyone can enjoy them, even without eating them!
Loving the permaculture take on making food! And nothing tastes quite like food you have grown yourself :) Great post, upvoted and followed!
Great article! I love daikon! I like to slice or shred them and lacto-ferment! Yum!
Love Radish. Think i'll give some of these a try. Never heard of these. Are the as good as the small red radish?
I have really enjoyed your homesteading posts, you have some really great information that I have never come across. I have my own Urban Foraging Handbook going out once a week if you are interested. I try to focus on common plants, etc that everyone can find and eat. If you are interested I can send you the link to the latest one when it comes out. I have no idea if you know these plants and tricks already, but the more we know, the more we can eat!