Horseradish Replanted

I took these photos to show Allison over at The Life of a Novice how I planted our horseradish roots.  It's my first year growing these roots and I was told that they are really invasive.   We bought 5 horseradish roots, and I originally had all 5 roots in a 12 inch pot.  But that was temporary until we could buy a half wine barrel. I looked high and low for a half wine barrel, and got one from the Christmas Tree Shop for a great deal, $20!  I always find great gardening deals there.  We replanted 3 roots in the wine barrel.  I just love how great the leaves look. I wonder how much fuller it will grow.  It's very tropical looking! We had 2 more roots, so we put one root each in it's own 12 inch pot.

Here's a view from the other side of the barrel.  I'm actually not sure when or how to harvest the roots, I'll have to do research about it.  If you grow horseradish and have some tips about harvesting, I'd be glad to hear about it!  Also, are these roots hardy enough to withstand Northeast winters?  Since they are perennials, I'm guessing it should be.

How I Like to Eat Horseradish

In my last blog post on growing horseradish, Bill from Surburban Hobby Farmer asked me what type of foods that I like to put horseradish in.  Well, I'm a little embarrassed to say this but my favorite way to use grated horseradish is to put in a Bloody Mary.  If I grew horseradish just to use it for this purpose, that would be alright by me! (hahahaha)  However, I do like it in other foods.  Really.  I do.  (wink.) I also like to use horseradish as a condiment.  Shredded horseradish raw is an amazing condiment with German bratwurst.  Yum.  And with pork chops.  Super yum. You can also make a pretty good sandwich spread with horseradish, mix it with mayonnaise and mustard, and it really kicks it up a notch. 

But, back to Bloody Marys.  LOL.  I love Bloody Marys because the drink is as hearty as a meal, and it is...semi-healthy right?  I mean, there is a good serving of veggies, like how nutritious can you get, it is mostly tomato juice, and only a bit of vodka.  Hahaha.  Looking at the ingredients of this drink, I wonder if I can grow everything that goes in it.  I do grow tomatoes, but I have no idea how to make tomato juice.  I wonder if you need to put the maters into a juicer or a blender?  Do you make your own tomato juice? Other ingredients I put in my Bloody Mary are a good helping of celery, tabasco sauce, and lemons.  This year in the garden I'm growing Utah Celery, which is definitely going to be tasty in this drink. I'm also growing Chili peppers, so maybe I can make my own tabasco sauce.  That would be pretty awesome.  And I do have a meyer lemon tree, although it has yet to produce fruit.  I have been giving the tree organic citrus fertilizer, so I'm hoping for some lemons this year!  Check out some of my Utah Celery seedlings, the seeds given to me by Food Garden Kitchen.  I can't wait to get these babies to size, won't these look good in my Bloody Mary drink? 

Horseradish Greens

I am so estatic that all 5 horseradish roots have started to sprout! Woohoo!  Even the skinny scrawny roots that Burpee sent me sprouted.  Although, the smaller roots definitely have smaller leaf sprouts.  I took this photo before it started to rain, rain, and rain.  It's been raining for days and forecasted to rain 2 more.  Ugh.  On Monday, I bought a wine barrel planter to transplant these roots into, to give them some more breathing room.  However, since it's been raining non-stop, it will have to wait.  I love that in this photo, you can see my trusty green garden cart.  That cart is the best garden tool... ever!  Do you think I should plant all 5 roots into the half wine barrel planter?  I still don't think that's enough room.  Maybe I should put 3 roots in there and leave 2 of the smaller roots in this container.  Do you grow horseradish?  Advice is greatly needed.

Horseradish, It's Here!

I received my horseradish in the mail that I ordered from Burpee.com. This will be our first time growing horseradish. Both my husband and I love the stuff, and so we are beyond excited to be growing our own. I am a little bummed by the quality of the roots that Burpee sent us.  There are 5 roots in the order and 2 of the roots were puny skinny.  You will see it on the left side of my hand.  Compare that to the ones on the right which are thicker.  It's not my first frustrating experience with Burpee.  Last year, I had a dismal experience with getting their seeds to germinate.  I don't know why I continue to give them business.  I think we bought our horseradish roots with them because I couldn't find a good source that sold horseradish.  These better grow well, if it doesn't, I will never buy from Burpee ever again.

I ended up planting the roots in a large container.  A lot of garden bloggers advised me to not put them in the ground since they can be very invasive.  I hope these grow well.  I'm on the lookout for a wine barrel to purchase so I can transplant them in that.  I want to give it as much space as possible so that it can produce runners.  I want lots and lots of horseradish!  Yum.

Just a reminder, I'm hosting a pie cutter giveaway, enter here!  Deadline is this Friday, 4/22.