In the permaculture sphere, daikon radish is an important plant. With long tap roots, daikon is also known as a dynamic accumulator. Dynamic accumulators are plants that mine minerals from the soil. With a large root, daikon grow deep below to absorb and bring minerals to the surface for the vegetables and other plants in the garden. They make a great cover crop– easy to grow and grows aggressively.

Here, an experiment is being conducted. Daikon are known to help loosen dirt. What about really compacted dirt? Rather than dig the soil loose to plant a small tree, some daikon are being put to the task. To help them out a bit, a log was placed to contain some loose soil and the seeds sowed. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of dent the daikon will be able to make on the compacted soil.