Something Strange from my Garden

Last year I planted a butt-load of daikon radishes. I planted tomatoes, eggplants, and green peppers too. And then I spent my days working up menus with all the fresh veggies I was going to harvest. Boy, I couldn't wait to eat them. And as it turned out the bugs couldn't either. My entire crop was devoured before I even had time to Google how to non-toxic-ly beat the pests.

*sigh*

This year I didn't even try. So Imagine my surprise when about a month ago I saw the top of a daikon coming up in my flower bed. Dude survived!

I kept my eye on it. Watered it. Talked to it. Plucked off bugs and tossed them into the river. I also dreamed about how I'd serve it up when the day came to pick it.

But then something happened.

Something changed. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was amiss.

This, my friends, is a daikon. It's not my daikon, but it's what a typical daikon (the type I planted) looks like.






And this is a photo of the puppy I harvested today. Not terribly off, you say.





Until you see what it looks like to scale.

WTH is up with those stemmy, leaves going everywhere?




Closer examination shows that those stemmy leaves are covered in little pods.





Are you thinking what I'm thinking?




Sure, we're 300 kilometers from Fukushima. But there is fallout around here. France just turned away a bunch of green tea they said was way over the safe limit for drinking. That tea came from my prefecture.

So maybe it's possible: Mutant Daikon!

Or, if you don't like that one, I have another theory...

Let's return to the pods.


THE PODS!



Yep.


Whether I'm worrying about radiation or body snatchers, doesn't look like I'll be getting much sleep for awhile.

I'm just wondering if I should eat the thing though...