Horseraddish.....advice

The OH has done some Horseraddish this year in a medium sized raised planter we bought at the start of spring. bought them as two small roots at the garden centre. The leaves are pretty damn big, and are also now starting to yellow and die? Is this a sign that the plant is now ready to be lifted....or is something wrong?

And if it is ready for lifting.....any ideas how the heck you prepare them to make sauce with?!

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks shiney. I did give them a little wiggle, they're very well rooted. Luckily they're in the planter about a metre deep, and underneath that is a weed surpressing lining and bark. I wouldn't like to wrestle that out if it ever got into the garden :P

Thanks very much for the recipe will give that a go. Can't say I'm a fan of it, but the OH is. We'll be getting a nice piece of beef to try it with

Just out of curiousity, how come you have to wear a mask? Is it an irritant? Or spicey if you breath it in?

Will this keep for a while if we make a large batch?

Thanks again

 

Thank you :D gosh I didn't know that, but definitely worth knowing

I never knew it was quite so lethal ....spicey......but not lethal lol.

 

Do you think we'd be ok storing it if we only get a chance to lift it?

Thanks.

 

Just a suggestion, but if you've got a food processor ... use it, otherwise you could be there all day grating it (and that's after you've managed to peel it) it will also help stop the smell permeating the whole house since 'pungent' only begins to describe it! Once you've grated it, keep any that's unused in a screw-top jar in the fridge where it will store for about 6 weeks - you can also freeze it (grated) for about 6 months.

There's no such thing as a 'mild' homemade horseradish - but if you add vinegar immediately it's grated the result is just slightly less mind-blowingly hot than if you leave it for a few minutes and then add the vinegar. I've had quite good results by adding a very small amount of vinegar and a little soured cream - to make a more 'creamy' type sauce.

NB - I think my Gran used to wear gloves when she 'dealt' with fresh horseradish - I've got a feeling she mentioned it turns your fingers black (but I might have that wrong), Shiney would probably clarify that one.

 

Thanks Fidgetsmum, shiney. They're starting to sound pretty lethal to me!! I thought it would be a bit more straight forward I guess. I will conveniently not be around when it's being prepared I won't be trying it anyway as I'm really not a fan....but still interested by the process. Freezing it might be an option as fridge space can be limited. We've got one of those mini chopper things, if you leave it in long enough it normally turns into a grated pulp so that should be ok. So when we peal it, I guess the skin comes away quite easily, like a potato skin? I'm guessing I will be ok to touch it with bare hands, like an onion....but the scent will be overpowering like an onion?

Sounds like it can be a bit of a pain, wouldn't fancy it getting into the ground. Will be sure to empty the planted out entriely when we're done. We have enough trouble with endless wisteria and ivy roots clogging up the soil in that area (one reason why the planter sits on them) so I wouldn't fancy adding that one into the mix! Having it on the side of the road is an excellent idea :D and far less intrusive

 

Err - actually no -it's akin to peeling a half-frozen swede!

 

Glad to read this thread. Have been wanting to plant one. My father had a few on the farm. I will find a nice area to plant in the ground away from stuff so it won't matter much what the roots do .

 

Although I've never grown horseradish, I have bought fresh horseradish and made a type of sauce similar to the one you described. If you want to try something different, add some brown mustard and fresh chives to your sauce!