Growing Horseradish
- Thread starter AjarnV
- Start date
Its a root weed, don't do it unless you have an area of land/soil that you don't care about as once started you will never get rid of it.
That being said, I grow horseradish, think of it as a weed. Water it - it will grow; don't water it - it will grow; give it full sun - it will grow; give it no sun - it will grow. No wind/high winds it will grow.
I could take pictures but it would be like me taking pictures of dandilions, the plant has large furn like leaves and the root is in the ground.
I put it in a pail, that I dug into the ground to contain it. I put holes in the side of the pail to allow drainage, the root found its way out of the pail and now grows all around the pail, feet away. The top 4 inches of soil is loam, the rest is clay. Not red clay like potatoes grow well in, but the white cement like clay and the root loves this cold clay.
Old wives tales says to process the root only in months that end in "r" (don't ask me why), I believe the theory is to process it after first frost but this theory may be North American based - there are many root plants that are to be processed after first frost(parsnip come to mind).
I make horseradish condiment, dig up the horseradish in October(and the roots can run very, very deep). I remove the greens, wash the roots and outside, I put the root into my food process and grind it up. You will want to be outside as the fumes would fill your house and if married, you can expect to get yelled at! Your eyes will water, your nose will run. I grind the root twice, first pass is to get a coarse grind, empty the food process into a plastic or wooden bowl, cover and put into the fridge, limit as much air exposure in the ground state as possible(it will lose its heat quality quickly if exposed to air too long). DO NOT USE METAL(the horseradish will turn brown/sickly grey colour - this includes any spoons. Once all prduct is ground, I then put the ground radish back into the processor with a white wine and white vinegar mix. Grind further to make a smoother consistancy, then spoon the end product into baby jars and into the fridge it goes.
Another old wives tale "to keep horseradish hot, keep it cold". Some even freeze it, I just keep it in a small fridge. Some say it keeps for several months, I have opened a jar that is a couple of years old and it was just good as the day I bottled it.
As for the leaves, I treat them like rhubarb leaves and consider them poisonous. I have heard mixed reviews on the leaves so I just don't use them to be safe.
Hope this fills your plate, here's a picture of my sauce:
That being said, I grow horseradish, think of it as a weed. Water it - it will grow; don't water it - it will grow; give it full sun - it will grow; give it no sun - it will grow. No wind/high winds it will grow.
I could take pictures but it would be like me taking pictures of dandilions, the plant has large furn like leaves and the root is in the ground.
I put it in a pail, that I dug into the ground to contain it. I put holes in the side of the pail to allow drainage, the root found its way out of the pail and now grows all around the pail, feet away. The top 4 inches of soil is loam, the rest is clay. Not red clay like potatoes grow well in, but the white cement like clay and the root loves this cold clay.
Old wives tales says to process the root only in months that end in "r" (don't ask me why), I believe the theory is to process it after first frost but this theory may be North American based - there are many root plants that are to be processed after first frost(parsnip come to mind).
I make horseradish condiment, dig up the horseradish in October(and the roots can run very, very deep). I remove the greens, wash the roots and outside, I put the root into my food process and grind it up. You will want to be outside as the fumes would fill your house and if married, you can expect to get yelled at! Your eyes will water, your nose will run. I grind the root twice, first pass is to get a coarse grind, empty the food process into a plastic or wooden bowl, cover and put into the fridge, limit as much air exposure in the ground state as possible(it will lose its heat quality quickly if exposed to air too long). DO NOT USE METAL(the horseradish will turn brown/sickly grey colour - this includes any spoons. Once all prduct is ground, I then put the ground radish back into the processor with a white wine and white vinegar mix. Grind further to make a smoother consistancy, then spoon the end product into baby jars and into the fridge it goes.
Another old wives tale "to keep horseradish hot, keep it cold". Some even freeze it, I just keep it in a small fridge. Some say it keeps for several months, I have opened a jar that is a couple of years old and it was just good as the day I bottled it.
As for the leaves, I treat them like rhubarb leaves and consider them poisonous. I have heard mixed reviews on the leaves so I just don't use them to be safe.
Hope this fills your plate, here's a picture of my sauce:
After buying my house 5 years ago, when spring came around I noticed a patch of strange leaves growing in a corner. Found out it was Horseradish. This year I thought it had died as its always growing like wildfire but nothing this year till I dumped a bag of sheep shite on it and within a week and half was growing like wildfire once again.
Super easy to grow once you find some one with an existing plant. Just dig out a hunk of the root which is the part you eat and place same in a glass of water, before you know it there will be life, leaves roots etc. Not certain but don't see why this couldn't be achieved with a piece of root bought at your local supermarket. Give it room as it goes crazy once it stars.
Super easy to grow once you find some one with an existing plant. Just dig out a hunk of the root which is the part you eat and place same in a glass of water, before you know it there will be life, leaves roots etc. Not certain but don't see why this couldn't be achieved with a piece of root bought at your local supermarket. Give it room as it goes crazy once it stars.
I am in zone 3a and read it is good up to zone 9.
Its a root weed, don't do it unless you have an area of land/soil that you don't care about as once started you will never get rid of it.
That being said, I grow horseradish, think of it as a weed. Water it - it will grow; don't water it - it will grow; give it full sun - it will grow; give it no sun - it will grow. No wind/high winds it will grow.
I could take pictures but it would be like me taking pictures of dandilions, the plant has large furn like leaves and the root is in the ground.
I put it in a pail, that I dug into the ground to contain it. I put holes in the side of the pail to allow drainage, the root found its way out of the pail and now grows all around the pail, feet away. The top 4 inches of soil is loam, the rest is clay. Not red clay like potatoes grow well in, but the white cement like clay and the root loves this cold clay.
Old wives tales says to process the root only in months that end in "r" (don't ask me why), I believe the theory is to process it after first frost but this theory may be North American based - there are many root plants that are to be processed after first frost(parsnip come to mind).
I make horseradish condiment, dig up the horseradish in October(and the roots can run very, very deep). I remove the greens, wash the roots and outside, I put the root into my food process and grind it up. You will want to be outside as the fumes would fill your house and if married, you can expect to get yelled at! Your eyes will water, your nose will run. I grind the root twice, first pass is to get a coarse grind, empty the food process into a plastic or wooden bowl, cover and put into the fridge, limit as much air exposure in the ground state as possible(it will lose its heat quality quickly if exposed to air too long). DO NOT USE METAL(the horseradish will turn brown/sickly grey colour - this includes any spoons. Once all prduct is ground, I then put the ground radish back into the processor with a white wine and white vinegar mix. Grind further to make a smoother consistancy, then spoon the end product into baby jars and into the fridge it goes.
Another old wives tale "to keep horseradish hot, keep it cold". Some even freeze it, I just keep it in a small fridge. Some say it keeps for several months, I have opened a jar that is a couple of years old and it was just good as the day I bottled it.
As for the leaves, I treat them like rhubarb leaves and consider them poisonous. I have heard mixed reviews on the leaves so I just don't use them to be safe.
Hope this fills your plate, here's a picture of my sauce:
Well, it certainly does and that's some tasty looking horseradish in the jar.
As much as I love Thai food (I eat it 99% of the time) I sure miss some western delicacies at times. I'm in the boonies so western food isn't an option unless I grow it or make it.
Thanks, very helpful. cheers.
I wonder if Wasabi would be easier for you to obtain?
As Zappa mentioned, we can go to a local grocery store and find a root of horseradish but it is not usually fresh and is generally limp in touch and appearance.
As Zappa mentioned, we can go to a local grocery store and find a root of horseradish but it is not usually fresh and is generally limp in touch and appearance.
I've been growing it for two summers now, thanks to a gift from another THP member! The roots are supposed to be planted in fall, which I did. If you harvest it the after the following summer, the chances are you will have a meager harvest - I got about two tablespoons off two plants. I did return a couple of the roots to the dirt to resume growing. This year the plants look great but seem easy to contain, even without anything containing them. We simply mow along them.
One should harvest the roots after the first freeze, not frost or one can wait until the ground thaws in late winter, early spring and harvest some then. Again, the longer it grows, the more root you will have.
Vinegar stops the heating process once it is ground. The longer you wait, the hotter it will get, at least until it reaches the max level. IIRC, two minutes is the minimum to wait unless you want really mild stuff, three minutes is said to be pretty intense!
We use to get some as part of the condiments supplied at our Christmas Party - as long as we kept it refrigerated, it maintained its taste and most of its heat - even 11 months later.
Not that I'm looking forward to cold weather but I do anticipate this year's harvest!
Mike
One should harvest the roots after the first freeze, not frost or one can wait until the ground thaws in late winter, early spring and harvest some then. Again, the longer it grows, the more root you will have.
Vinegar stops the heating process once it is ground. The longer you wait, the hotter it will get, at least until it reaches the max level. IIRC, two minutes is the minimum to wait unless you want really mild stuff, three minutes is said to be pretty intense!
We use to get some as part of the condiments supplied at our Christmas Party - as long as we kept it refrigerated, it maintained its taste and most of its heat - even 11 months later.
Not that I'm looking forward to cold weather but I do anticipate this year's harvest!
Mike
salsalady
eXtreme Business
We had some growing at our place when we bought it 10 years ago. Never did anything with it except water it and dig it up every now and then. It's a very well established patch, so I dig it whenever, don't worry about the fall thing.
We dug some up for a throwdown a couple months ago (to go with the prime rib on the BBQ) and I posted some pics of what I did here-
http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/16743-homemade-horseradish/page__p__357300__fromsearch__1#entry357300
We still have some in the refer, use it whenever...
Hope it helps. SL
We dug some up for a throwdown a couple months ago (to go with the prime rib on the BBQ) and I posted some pics of what I did here-
http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/16743-homemade-horseradish/page__p__357300__fromsearch__1#entry357300
We still have some in the refer, use it whenever...
Hope it helps. SL
Thanks for the link; wow, I'm salivating looking at those pictures.
I'm trying to round up some seeds as I type this. I've got friends in the U.S. and England trying to source some. Cheers.
I can get powered wasabi here; never thought to look for seeds/root. Good idea, but I would like the western variety. Cheers.
I'm not sure about this but I saw a video on TV about wasabi(franz -> IBC13, those japanese tourism video) wasabi is grown on the side of rivers at the northern part of japan...
we have horseradish tree here(malunggay) but not sure if it is related with horse radishes..
we have horseradish tree here(malunggay) but not sure if it is related with horse radishes..
Of course, before I posted any rely, I did a google search "horseradish in Thailand" and saw the horseradish tree. Go figure that such a creature would exist but not the same thing.
Once you get a horseradish plant and plant it, you are looking at a minimum of 2/3 years before you can harvest. You get these long thin roots, I am trying to think of a size so you can relate... I would say licorice sizzle but I don't know if that would ring a bell with you. Perhaps shoelace size in thickness but rounder. I spend a lot of time cleaning small roots like this for the food processor but be forewarned, if the root is too large, it takes on a woody texture and is no good. It would be like chewing rubber and you potentially could burn out your food processor trying to chop it up.
I have been playing with horseradish for 15+ years.
Once you get a horseradish plant and plant it, you are looking at a minimum of 2/3 years before you can harvest. You get these long thin roots, I am trying to think of a size so you can relate... I would say licorice sizzle but I don't know if that would ring a bell with you. Perhaps shoelace size in thickness but rounder. I spend a lot of time cleaning small roots like this for the food processor but be forewarned, if the root is too large, it takes on a woody texture and is no good. It would be like chewing rubber and you potentially could burn out your food processor trying to chop it up.
I have been playing with horseradish for 15+ years.
Thanks, good information.
I was given a bunch of horseradish roots this year. I took one of the smaller ones and planted it about two months ago. So it was after the first frost. I ground the rest up into about a pint of ground horseradish in vinegar/water/salt. Should I expect some next year as the one I planted was an established albeit small root? Or should I let it go for a year or two before digging it up?
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
you will never get rid of it JayT...it will come back year after year...I am on my third year on the roots I started...