When to dig and grind horseradish?

When is the best time to do all this

This message was edited Wednesday, May 7th 12:06 PM

Plant horseradish root any time. They're hardier than any plant known.

Best stick the roots horizontally into a mound of earth, for maximum yield. (That's true of comfrey too.)

Harvest in late Autumn. Dry and grind the roots to store. Or keep them fresh in the ground to use next year.

Once planted, horseradish is immortal - so stick the roots in an oubliette, in some dark neglected part of your garden. Luckily, horse radish doesn't mind shade...

A wee bit of advice from personal experience:

Grind it outdoors.

Adam.

Great question! We've had a bunch of it for years and never used it; never knew when to harvest it or how to grind it or how to cook with it!

What do you use to grind it up?

How/where do you store it?

How do you use it?

Thanks.

My Grandma used to say that it can be dug in any month that ends in an "r" and there's not so much snow you can't find it. She also ground it outside. My brother-in-law uses a blender.

I think I'll dig a few roots and take them out on the deck. I have a old food processor, mabe it will grind it fine enough so it can be spread on some roast beef.

Yes, grind horseradish indoors and it will scour your eyes. You thought onion was bad? Ho!

One trick is to peel it and cut it under water. Even then, I find, you need to wear goggles.

A powerful blender will do it. Outdoors.



This message was edited Thursday, May 8th 12:37 PM

ridgerunner, let us know how it turns out. I'm thinking that it might be woody this time of year? I've never tried to dig it for processing this time of year, but I did try to transplant some in the spring and the roots were woody and stringy. But, maybe mine has just gone bad from not using it and being overcrowded.

I learned the hard way that horseradish is out-competed by lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). I didn't bother to eliminate the volunteers from my horseradish patch a couple of years ago; when I went to dig the roots, there was one tiny little thing that had been strangled by the voracious lemon-balm!

Definitely goggles outdoors in a blender located inside an air-tight box! LOL

The only thing that will restrain horse radish is fennel.

Plant fennel around your horse radish, and it gives up.

This also works for mint. (Sort of... but then nothing really restrains mint.)