shelleyinmichigan
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Location: Ossineke, Michigan

Fun with horseradish!!

It was a nice spring day. The sun was actually shining, and even though there was a chilled steady breeze coming off the lake I decided it would be a good time to start getting dirty (remember, not soily! :wink: )

The leeks I had left in the ground had multiplied so I dug and divided them first. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Then a stroke of genius! I'll dig up the horseradish. It's just starting to sprout and I can divide those too and space them out.

Genius my caboose........

What started out innocently enough became a trip into the depths of, well, you'll get the idea.

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish1.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish3.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish4.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish5.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish6.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/shelleyn_2006/horseradish7.jpg[/img]

Even though I had given away several plants last summer, I still ended up excavating at least a dozen more of these behemoth roots and their offspring. I had only intended to heal them in the ground, but was distracted by the rest of my garden and let them stay where they were.

Lessons learned:
1) Don't be lazy and/or complacent.
2) When someone asks you "would you like some horseradish?" just take maybe one or two.......not 9 like I did!!
3) When someone tells you to plant your horseradish in an out-of-the way spot, THEY MEAN IT.

wordwiz
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Are you bragging or complaining?!

I love horseradish on pork, beef, in meatloaf and soups as well as lots of other things!

Be thankful! It is a good root!

Mike

shelleyinmichigan
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Location: Ossineke, Michigan

I can't really brag since I didn't do anything to make them so big other than ignore them 8)

Complaining, no, not really. I'm always impressed by what naturally occurs. You can see in the photos those roots ended up growing in nothing but fill beach sand. No real nutrients there, but they went great guns on their own!

I have a pile of loose roots and chunks that I will attempt to turn into horseradish tomorrow. Love the stuff on ham steaks, deviled eggs, and mix it in with salad dressing for a tater tot dip.

I'm hungry now

:shock:

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gixxerific
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I love hot stuff and horseradish is one of those delicacy's I love.

But I am scared to grow it. I have seen people who planted it and had it coming up 20+ feet away. I know it is hard to control bu geez.

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digitS'
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I'm with Gixxerific . . . decided not to grow it, Shelley. Howsomeever . . . I have inherited it on 2 occasions!

When I took over Dad's garden years ago, he had it. Dad will eat more horseradish than I will, even in his 90's - used to make the sauce and all that. But, I needed a place for a compost bin and the patch of ground where the horseradish and its companion WEEDs grew was the logical place for it.

Dug out about 8" of soil and removed all plants, built a frame of concrete blocks and piled on 6 feet of compostables!! The next season I had horseradish coming up on all sides of the compost bin! It even grew thru the concrete blocks :oops: ! Which made it doubly difficult to get out.

When I moved to my current home 15 years ago, horseradish was growing in an iris bed :shock: . Now, iris is difficult enuf but horseradish was an added issue. And, the bed made sense for iris - it didn't make sense for horseradish. Somehow, I managed to use herbicide on the horseradish without killing the iris.

Well "somehow" the first season was by removing all the iris, spraying the horseradish while the iris cooled their heels in the garage for a couple of weeks before replanting. I still had to spot spray for 2 more years to get rid of it!

I don't know. I can eat about 2 Tablespoons of the stuff a year. Happy with rosemary or BBQ sauce on roast beef. I eat more wasabi than horseradish. No, I'm afraid 1 plant would be too much, too quickly; 9 would soon be a nightmare! I suspect that you will have as many plants as you want next year whether you replant any of what you have dug, or not. However, I hope you, like Dad, find some real enjoyment from what you harvest :) .

Steve

shelleyinmichigan
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Dad told me that if I even leave a piece of root anywhere in the ground, it will become a plant. I dug nearly 2 feet down and didn't get all of it either, so I expect I will be blessed eventually by sprouts :roll:

There is a long family history behind these particular roots. My grandfather, Isadore, was a very traditional Polish man. Had his yearly treat of blood soup, ate raw onions (not green bunching onions either :? ), and horseradish was one of his favorite eats.

The plants I'm digging came from him. My folks inherited root stock from him. Then when my brother bought his 5 acres he was given some. Then I ended up with 9 of his (granted, those 9 were the survivors, I did have more in the beginning.)

For some reason I think my grandpa is laughing his behind off at me right now :lol:

wordwiz
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I've been growing HR for three years and the idea of it taking over and spreading like some kind of an epidemic is complete nonsense. Mine is easily contained in a 2x4' foot area, without any kid of barriers set up.

This condiment somehow got a bad rep and it continues.

When I processed it, I let it go for about six minutes before adding vinegar. I've tasted peppers that were not as hot!

Mike

shelleyinmichigan
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Mike,

I'm curious to know how you processed your roots. Did you use a blender, or a meat grinder? The blade assembly on my Black and Decker blender is cracked so I can't use it, but I have the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I also have one of those dinky electric handy choppers (like a mini food processor) and a Hamilton Beach personal blender.

I would like to make small batches so I don't get too overwhelmed with the fumes, and use up a bunch of jelly jars I was given.

Any advice would be appreciated, and thanks :)

Canadian Farmer Guy
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Shelley, are Poles by any chance known for bad breath?
Horseradish, raw onions, I bet your grandfather could kill weeds by breathing on them. :)

Come to think of it, that would be a useful skill.
I'm gonna have to give it a try.

CFG

shadowsmom
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Shelley, I use a food processor and I do it out on the deck to cut down on the fumes. It can get really strong in an enclosed space. I have used the meat grinder attachment to my mixer previously and it worked well. I just found when I got my new, larger food processor it was easier for me to get the consistency I wanted.

wordwiz
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Shelly,

I used a food processor that has both a chop and a grind option. The fumes were MIA until I added the vinegar and mixed it. Ten seconds and I had to get out of the room for a bit!

Mike

shelleyinmichigan
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Canadian Farmer Guy, he must've had some sort of homemade remedy for all that stuff since I never really noticed it. *However* he DID chew Copenhagen and had a brass spitoon.......perhaps that was the miracle cure :wink:

Mike, shadowsmom, thanks for the information. I have an outlet on the back patio so I will plug my food processor in out there. Of course today there is nary a breeze so I may not be needing any decongestants :lol:

garden5
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Shelly, that's great that your plants have been handed down through generations. Not many folks can say that.

One thing I saw on television about horseradish is that if you eat a chunk of it, it isn't hot. You have to grate it fine to bring out the heat. I would have never guessed that.

shelleyinmichigan
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I think I made my Grandpa proud :)

Now................as usual my eyes are bigger than my jars. Or is it the other way around? :roll: Anyway now I have puhlenteeeeeee of freshly ground horseradish sittin' pretty in jelly jars just a sparkling in the vinegar.

So now I have some technical questions. By definition, is home prepared horseradish considered a pickled product, even though there is no processing involved?

I am curious to know since Michigan passed the cottage food law and I'm not terribly sure whether or not my horseradish would be covered. I hardly think I could possibly *kill* someone with it unless the simpleton went ahead and inhaled it :shock:

Has anyone ever sold their horseradish with much success?

DeborahL
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I wish tomatoes would behave like horseradish ! And peas and corn and green beans !



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