A Radish by any other name....

Daikon, Moo, Mooli, Lobak. Call it what you wish. It was the surprise success of The Garden stall at Coledale Market. Most Westerners don't know what to make of it. But the rest of the world gets pretty excited about it. It's a white, mildly spicy, root vegetable which is a member of the Brassica family. Although the root is what most are after, the shoots are also edible (but prickly). It is also a lovely looking plant. Fellow Garden member Colin reckons it's your best bet for busting up hard/compacted soil. They are like tasty little crowbars that work for free. And easily grown. They self-seed with no problem in our region.

We diversified a little this time on the market stall. Arunda permasourced some really beautiful banksia/wattle blooms and we had some baby coffee plants for sale. Check out our posts earlier in the year about coffee bean processing (Jan/Feb). If you got a plant from us... then you saved a little fella from the roaster. Don't worry, mama will produce more next year.

Thanks to everybody who visited the stall. Selling out by 11am at a market that runs until 3pm was pretty encouraging! We had to call for back-up just to make it through the day (thanks Greg!).

So we leave you with a Daikon recipe we have tried and liked:

Daikon and Carrot Salad (from Japanese food and cooking by Emi Kazuko)

Grate 1 daikon and 1 carrot. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and mix. Drain after 30 minutes and squeeze out excess liquid.

Prepare dressing of 4 tbsp rice vinegar + 2 tbsp caster sugar. Stir until dissolved then pour over daikon and carrot. Garnish with roasted sesame seeds before serving.

This color combo, orange and white, is considered lucky by the Japanese. So daikon can change your luck too!