{"id":2324,"date":"2020-03-24T22:28:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T22:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=2324"},"modified":"2020-03-24T22:28:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T22:28:37","slug":"horseradish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/24\/horseradish\/","title":{"rendered":"Horseradish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Armoracia rusticana <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong>: Horseradish is native to Eastern Europe, but it has been widely\ncultivated in temperate areas around the world and is now naturalized in most\nof them. This is typical of this persistent plant, where it is planted it\nstays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutritional\ncontent<\/strong>: You wouldn\u2019t\nthink of horseradish as a major source of nutrients, simply because it is too\npungent to eat in quantity. However it is full of potent phytochemicals\n(glucosinolates) with anti-cancer properties. It is also rich in vitamin C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the brassicas contain the beneficial glucosinolates, but\nhorseradish contains up to 10 times more of them. This means that even the\nsmall amounts you are likely to eat can go a long way to improving your health\n(if you can manage to consume it of course).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease\nof growing<\/strong>: Few\nplants are as easy to grow as horseradish. It is essentially a wild plant and\nwill commonly grow without any input from you. Just plant it in a vacant spot\nand leave it alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ph: 5.5 to 7 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horseradish will grow in almost any well-drained soil, but it will\nbe most productive in a rich, moist one that contains lots of organic matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where<\/strong>: Horseradish does best in a fairly cool climate and likes full\nsun. It will also grow in shade too, though not quite as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a persistent perennial so it isn\u2019t a good idea to put it\nin the middle of an annual bed. It isn\u2019t an invasive plant, in that it doesn\u2019t\nspread aggressively, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

but once it gets established it can be difficult to remove. This\nis because any fragment of root left in the ground can grow into a new plant.\nSave yourself some trouble and plant it in a remote place, where it can be left\nto its own devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also plant horseradish in a container, partly buried in\nthe ground (it needs to be deep). This makes harvesting easy, as you simply dig\nup the container and dump\nit out on to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When<\/strong>: Traditionally horseradish is planted 2 – 4\nweeks before the last frost date, though if the ground isn\u2019t frozen it can be\nplanted any time from winter to early spring. In mild areas it can be planted\nin fall too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can\u2019t plant your root when you get it home, store it in the\nfridge in a plastic bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vegetative<\/strong>: Horseradish is not grown from seed, but is propagated\nvegetatively from pieces of root. Usually when a plant is harvested, the\nsmaller rootlets are trimmed off from the large roots. These are saved for\nreplanting, while the larger roots are eaten. Very small rootlets take two\nyears to produce usable roots. Larger roots will be ready to harvest in only\none year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horseradish is a tough plant and doesn\u2019t need meticulous care in\nplanting (it grows as a perennial and persistent weed in many places). It is\ncommon to dig a fairly large hole and refill it with half compost and half\nsoil. Plant the root with the crown just below the soil surface.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing<\/strong>: Space the plants 12 – 18\u02dd apart. You don\u2019t\nusually need many of them (unless you are some kind of horseradish fanatic).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch<\/strong>: This is helpful to keep down weeds, hold in moisture and provide nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeding<\/strong>: The root will get bigger if it gets plenty of nutrients. If the\nsoil is poor you may want to give it a foliar feed occasionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water<\/strong>: Horseradish is somewhat drought tolerant and can handle neglect, but such plants won\u2019t\nget very big. For big beautiful roots it needs a regular supply of water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests<\/strong>: The only problem I have had (admittedly a significant one) was\nwith gophers eating the whole\nplant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvesting<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roots can be dug at any time of year, but are at their best\nafter they go dormant, from late fall until early spring (when they start\ngrowing again). In loose soil, the roots of older plants may grow to be three\nfeet in length, but smaller roots are generally of better quality for food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How<\/strong>: The brittle roots need to be dug carefully, as they break\neasily. Any fragment remaining in the ground will grow into a new plant, which can be good or bad, depending upon\nwhere it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage<\/strong>: In mild winter areas the roots can be gathered as needed through\nthe winter. In cold areas, where the ground freezes, you may want to dig them\nin late fall and store them over the winter in damp sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed saving<\/strong>: Horseradish has been propagated vegetatively for so long that it\ndoesn\u2019t produce seed. Of course it doesn\u2019t need to, it saves itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unusual growing ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild garden<\/strong>: Horseradish doesn\u2019t need the pampered soil and growing conditions to\nbe found in the intensive beds. It will be happy in almost any vacant spot in\nthe garden (you will be too, if you don\u2019t put this persistent plant in your\ngarden beds).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Containers: <\/strong>Horseradish does quite well in a container, so long as it is deep\nenough and it gets watered regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties: <\/strong>Maliner Kren is the commonest variety (in fact usually the only one available). I bought my horseradish root years ago from a vegetable market (it is cheaper and readily available), so don\u2019t even know what variety it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitchen use<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An intact horseradish root has no pungency at all, the acrid oil\nthat gives it its characteristic flavor only appears when the root is damaged.\nDamage (such as grating) ruptures the cell walls, allowing an enzyme to react\nwith a glycoside to form mustard oil (allyl isothiocyanate). The relatively\nbland root then quickly develops enough pungency to take your breath away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most plants that produce mustard oil, horseradish irritates\nthe kidneys and mucous membranes and so is toxic to some degree. However it is\nhard to eat enough to have any deleterious effect beyond a sore tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horseradish is an acquired taste. A bite of the raw root may be\nthe hottest thing you have ever eaten (if you have led a sheltered life) and\nthis extreme pungency limits its use as food. It is far from insignificant\nhowever, as it is used to make the famous horseradish sauce, as well as salad\ndressings. You might also try making \u201chorseradish bread\u201d as a change from\ngarlic bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you dislike the pungency of the raw\nroot, try cooking it. This prevents the acrid mustard oil from forming and\nleaves you with a relatively bland root vegetable. The root is also a good\naddition to soup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaves<\/strong>: The first tender spring leaves can be added to salads, or cooked\nwith other greens as a potherb. These are so good that the roots have actually\nbeen forced indoors like chicory (Cichorium<\/em>) to provide winter greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horseradish Sauce<\/strong> \u00a0

2 oz grated horseradish
1 oz sugar
Pinch of sea salt
2 oz breadcrumbs
\u00bc cup plain yogurt
\u00bd cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice \u00a0

Mix together all the ingredients and then add enough wine vinegar to make a paste. Chill in the fridge before enjoying all of those antioxidant phytochemicals. \u00a0 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Armoracia rusticana Introduction: Horseradish is native to Eastern Europe, but it has been widely cultivated in temperate areas around the world and is now naturalized in most of them. This … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herbs","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Horseradish.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2326,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions\/2326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}