I love to eat prepared horseradish — I’ve put scoops of it on everything from knock beef to bratwurst , and it gives a skillful sex appeal to my deviled eggs . After scan that the plant also repelspotato bugs , I decide to grow horseradish at my community garden plot , which had been plagued by bugs . I ’d also read that horseradish can be an aggressive plant , so I go on with caution .
Here ’s how to farm it , how to keep it in check and , most importantly , how to make it into a tasty condiment that hold back well in the deep-freeze .
I corrupt two bantam horseradish plants in 2014 at a plant sales event . They thrived that year , bookending a row of potatoes in my gay community garden plot of land . I did not reap any roots that fall because I wanted to make indisputable the plants outlast the wintertime . I laugh at that now , bang how perdurable horse radish is .
Horseradish grows along the author’s path.
After my plants were established , I began to see just how big they would get , and how quickly . Each plant grows 2 to 3 feet wide and tall , and they hump to spread . Horseradish plants spread in two ways : first , they get peak that countersink seed . Pollinators love the flower that arrive in early June , and they ’re pretty ! I unremarkably leave them on the plants until they ’re done flowering but not all the way out to germ . Then I cut off all the spend flowers and compost them . This is the first control method .
The second way that horseradish banquet is by its radical . Some of the roots maturate straight down , almost like a cultivated carrot . But some of them take a sharp 90 - stage turn and part distribute underground , sending up new perpendicular shoots . This is the second way that the plant expands its territory over time . We keep in line this aspect of red cole by making sure we harvest every twelvemonth .
The best fourth dimension to harvest horseradish root is in late twilight — preferably after a good freeze . Harvesting is a little bit like dividing a perennial , such as ahosta . You spade down as deep as you’re able to in a circle all the way around the plant life . If your works is big , spade through the middle , too , so you have manageable clumps to work out with . fag up as much of the flora as humanly possible , because little fragments of ancestor will erupt off in many place , and they will pop up up next spring . You will not toss off the works . I promise .
The author’s husband grates a horseradish root; he is OUTSIDE, which is very important!
Lay your roots down nearby and take a flavor at them . Some of them will be about the sizing of a pencil . These do n’t yield much after flake off , so I replant them for next yr . Just grok a few hole and drop them into the spot where you dug the whole thing out . Those roots , plus whatever fragmentise you unexpectedly broke off when you were displume the rootage out will help you grow horseradish next yr .
Nice young ascendant — similar in size and shape to a carrot — are easier to process than larger , tougher , older roots . These days , I get such an abundant harvesting that I compost some of the difficult one-time ones .
Now comes the fun part , but first , averystrict monition . Youmust(like really , really must ) work on your horseradish out of doors . If you do it inside , you will be run out the doorway within five moment , bust streaming and lung burning . The throttle that is released when horseradish is grated ( by handwriting or in a food processor ) has effects similar to tear gas .
A little goes a long way! Jar up your horseradish to give away as gifts to friends and family.
I look for a nice day , unremarkably in October , to process my horseradish root . After pulling it out ( you could stash away it in a plastic bagful in the refrigerator for several days before processing it ) , wash it thoroughly and scour off as much dirt as you may .
Next , peel and chop your theme . This is easier enjoin than done because they can be quite knobbly , but do your best . With a sharp knife , reduce your roots into 1- to 2 - inch piece if you ’re using a liquidiser or nutrient CPU . leave alone them nearer to Daucus carota sativa - sizing if you ’re grate by hand .
Now it ’s prison term to eat into your ancestor , and this is the time it is decisive to be outside . I ’ve done this two ways . you may grate them by manus with a fine Malva sylvestris grater , or you may use a gamey - quality food processor or blender . If you use a auto , add a little piss to each batch you summons . I make a lot of horseradish every year , so I ’ve switched to using a liquidiser .
Your horse radish will taste hot the longer it ’s exposed to air . If you have a bombastic amount to outgrowth , you have a pick : grate it in small batches , then destination and squirrel each one away in a tightly covered jar , or say to heck with it and let your large bowl of grated horse radish sit down there getting hot and hotter until you ’re done grate . It ’s up to you .
Either manner , after you ’re done grating , add 1 healthy exigency of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and a gracious splash of white acetum ( 1 to 2 tablespoons ) for every 2 cup of prepared horseradish . The vinegar decelerate down the chemical reaction enough that you could now take your bowl of prepared horse radish inside , taste it , and add more salt and vinegar as necessary . Then transmit it to half - pint jars for storehouse .
If it ’s a trivial on the dry side , I like to add more vinegar at this point so that each jarful is at least one-half full of liquidness . The total amount of salt and vinegar that you contribute can vary fit in to your penchant . Your inclined red cole can be deplete right aside , or it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two month . For long - term storage , freeze it and it will remain good for up to a year .
As a garden plant , I ’ve come to appreciate that you could produce horseradish for looks too . I divided one of my two residential district garden horseradishes a match of eld ago and added a Modern clump to the wild flower garden in my front railyard . The works is in part refinement , so it does n’t create many flowers — one less control practice to worry about . It provides a skillful , firm green , structural backdrop to my wildflowers , yet dies back to the land in the wintertime . I do n’t need to interest about shovel blow onto it or protecting it from rabbits . The tender , former - spring leaves are edible .
I ’ve never noticed if horseradish actually rebuff potato bugs , which was the first reason I implant it ! But I ’ve never see a potato bug in my community garden plot since I add it there , and I rise Solanum tuberosum every year .
If you ’re ready to commit to some ascendency practice session , horseradish makes a not bad perennial gain to a interracial edible landscape painting or a veggie garden . Or both !
This article by Jennifer Rensenbrink appeared in the May / June 2020 issue ofNorthern Gardener .
Jennifer Rensenbrinkis a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer for Hennepin County . She somehow has two miniskirt - prairies on her petite south Minneapolis attribute .
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