Rotting Radishes Cause Stink In Rural Western Md.
KEEDYSVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A type of radish grown as a winter cover crop is prompting complaints in western Maryland that it stinks when it rots.
The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail reports the culprit is the white radish, also known as forage radish or daikon radish.
The National Park Service says farmers who plant white radishes on the Antietam National Battlefield leave them to decay as a natural fertilizer. The decaying vegetables can produce a smell like rotten eggs.
White radishes were added to Maryland's government-subsidized cover crop program in 2010. The state Agriculture Department said Monday they're especially popular on the Eastern Shore because they use nutrients that might otherwise promote excess algae growth in the Chesapeake Bay.
University of Maryland Extension workers say they've heard no complaints in that area about the stench.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
