Thriving horseradish
As permaculturalists, we always strive for self-regulating systems. So perennial plants play a huge role in our garden. They require almost no care, self-propagate and they’re delicious!
My rule for harvesting Horseradish is one quarter goes back into the garden, one quarter gets repotted for sharing with the community and the rest gets processed for eating. The tops of the plants go into the compost or to the chickens.
Baby horseradish plant ready to get potted up for the nursery
Our original plant came from the Braybrook Community Garden via the legendary Steve and went in about two years ago. I’ve had three harvest rounds out of it. Normally you harvest when the leaves die down – like potatoes. But our crop got attacked by caterpillars while we were off getting married so I decided to harvest early. I was also keen to move them to another spot.
Replanted horseradish ready to grow and be the crop for next year
I use the technique laid out here to process horseradish. Since my harvest was a bit early I didn’t bother peeling as I wouldn’t be left with much so instead I gave the roots a really good wash and pulled off all of the fine roots.
This is where it gets serious. When you read warnings about safety when it comes to horseradish, there are no exaggerations here! I don’t normally go as far as gloves, but I definitely put my sunglasses on and make sure I wash my hands very well as soon as I’ve finished. I’m always the first to scratch my eye ofter chopping chillies…
CAUTION!
All you need to do is pop your horseradish in the blender with two tablespoons of water. I have a thermomix (yay!) so I use that. I chopped mine up on speed 7 for ten seconds. Checked (carefully so no fumes got in my eye!) and decided to scrape it down and give it another 5 seconds. Then I added a tablespoon of white vinegar and pulsed it in to the mixture.
Carefully, making sure not to get any anywhere near your eyes, spoon it into a jar, and that’s it!
Fresh horseradish is totally delicious. I like to eat it with beef but you can have it on all sorts of things. And you can use it as a base for other sauces.
Best of all, now you have some sauce you can put some in a small jar and give it to a friend!
There you have it! Easy to grow plant that’s both delicious and easy to make and also super easy to share!
Yummo in a jar
Originally posted at http://powerplantsnursery.wordpress.com/