![\"Daikon_Radish_Mooli_minowase\"](\"http:\/\/www.chickenfish.cc\/bio\/wp-content\/media\/Daikon_Radish_Mooli_minowase.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is Minowase which is a classic good tasting and reliable open pollinated variety. You can see that a great amount of the root is actually out of the ground.<\/p>\n
I like to sow the seed and then build ip a good layer of mulch with straw as they grow larger. Because they tend to have a good deal of the root expanding out of the ground it;s good to keep the them protected from the\u00a0weather so the skin stays nice and fresh and soft. You have to be careful of slugs and snails building up around he base if you do this but i find it works ok if you have good local bird population – also growing them into winter or cold weather makes the insect activity less of an issue.<\/p>\n
However they do provide a secondary crop in mid spring (around late September – October here) which is the large succulent seed pods which can be a tasty vegetable in their own right. And the flowers are quite nice too.<\/p>\n
The leaves can be eaten too as a general green vegetable if you don’t want to waste anything – \u00a0they are not especially tasty on their own as they tend to have a bit of a tough texture unless grown very fast but they can go well in a mixed salad,\u00a0stir fried vegetable dish or steamed by themselves with\u00a0a little soy and garlic added.<\/p>\n The roots pickle well too like the traditional turnips in Lebanese and Japanese cuisine. You can add a red dye like Beetroot juice or Shiso\u00a0(like Uma-bosh plum and ginger) so they look like the classic pickled Ginger.<\/p>\n The varieties I mainly grow are the Japanese Minowase and the Northern\u00a0Chinese Green Luobo Radish (Qingluobo).\u00a0Both have good tasting reliable roots and seed pods.<\/p>\n Daikon\u00a0have various quite a few other common names such as\u00a0‘Mooli’ for which I am not sure of the origin.<\/p>\n Here is a nice tasty ‘serving suggestion’ – A fresh wasabi leaf, a slice of Daikon Minowase and a slice of blood orange\u00a0-all of which are in season at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n