Pre-Fukushima Daikon Seed

I currently have a bag of Daikon seed that I bought before Fukushima.

I'm saving this seed jealously. This plant seems to be one of the cornerstones of Fukuoka's soil regeneration methods, cited in Gaia's Garden.

The seed-seller I use still has the seeds, but I'm weary of buying them.

This year, I only planted that which went to seed last year, a small bag full.

I would be interested in hearing people's thoughts on buying new daikon seed; alternatives to daikon (I found a white radish that was not a daikon, maybe not as big); sources for daikon seed not grown in japan (in large quantities, since this is for soil rehab) and etc.

I found some nasty pics on post-fukushima daikons on the internet. Don't really want to be growing/eating nuclear waste.

Thanks,
William

Black Spanish Radish is a large radish that comes in both round and long versions. It is not as long as Daikon. As an eating radish it has the advantage of staying edible through maturity, considered a storage radish.

http://rareseeds.com/long-black-spanish-radish.html

Mangel beets, sugar beets are also something to consider for the purpose of building soil.

The maps of I've seen, the areas of significant contamination are limited and my understanding is that agriculture has been restricted in those areas.
It's relevant to note that radiation exists in your garden soil, granite, etc. Ultimately, I"m not sure how seeds are going to constitute a threat to your health, are daikons a prolific accumulator of cesium or iodine in their seed?

Ed,
That's good to know. Perhaps I'm overestimating the situation. Just want to be cautious. I was going to continue with my daikon seed-production, since it seems to have done well last year. Hopefully, I won't need to buy the new bag of daikon seeds, but in that event, I'm glad to know that there is a low possibility that they are contaminated.

I don't think daikons bring up radioactive stuff, I just imagined that if the seeds were compromised, they would have radioactive stuff in the roots that grew from them.

Thanks,
William

Caution is good. I can say with certainty that every plant you consume is radioactive, you are, your house is, etc... I'm not being flippant about it, it's just a matter of perspective.

In my mind real threats to our health are greenhouse gases, Methane from infrastructure leaks and of course CO2. Radiation doesn't even rate compared to the clear and present threat they present. Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent...

There is a high level of contamination control around the effected areas, anything that comes out of there will be screened before it's allowed out. Saying that, it would actually be of great help to the farmers impacted by this event if you did buy from them. They have years of hard times ahead of them