Our cool-season herodaikon

The winter of 2014 was the first cool season we spent at the farm and we had a steep learning curve about how difficult growing can be when soil temperatures are low. We were still experimenting with crops but were pulling our hair out when the carrots were not germinating, the cabbages were getting smashed by white moths, and the peas and beans were rotting in the ground.

One rainy day, we were struggling through the mud to harvest produce, and were getting increasingly frustrated when nothing was to size. Then, one of our junior farm hands struck gold when he uncovered a patch of huge, white crispy daikon radishes!

Daikon Radish was famously used by Japanese natural farming pioneer Masanobu Fukuoka to break up compacted soils with their deep taproots. They grow prolifically in the Illawarra, in a season when most other produce struggles.

Anyone who was a customer back in the early years of the veg box would agree that for the first couple of winters we were a bit over-enthusiastic about daikon, so we’ve planted much less than we used to. But we still think it’s worth celebrating this hero of winter every now and again, so this week is daikon week!

This season we’re growing purple daikon as well as the conventional white, which has the exact same taste and texture but with an added colour hit.

Enjoy

Cal Champagne

Green Connect Farm Manager

In your box:20210526 in box

What’s that in my box: Sometimes known as Korean radish or Japanese radish, daikon is a crispy root famously used in East-Asian cooking, often fermented or pickled.  But it can just as easily be shredded into a salad, chopped into a stir-fry or a curry, or used as starch in a pumpkin soup. For more information on how to store & cook any of our vegetables, visit: https://draxe.com/ and type in the veggie you’re looking for.

You can find all of our recipes here!