"Grow Your Own Horseradish"

Growing horseradish in your garden isn't a specialist project. Anyone can do it, given the right conditions. In fact, once your plants get established, they may take over the whole garden if not controlled.

Use containers where possible. Half barrels or large pots are good containers to use. Start your plants off from root cuttings from your local nursery or plant supplier.

If you are not using containers, choose the location carefully in your garden. The plants will tolerate partial shade but prefer a sunnier spot if possible.

Thompson and Morgan in the UK have roots available for planting in the spring.

Horseradish in the UK at Thompson and Morgan

I had trouble finding a supplier in the US, but the following website seems a good place to start. Tons of good information and advice as well. US suppliers

Growing: Prepare the ground by digging deep - at least 12 inches (30cm) deep. Work the soil well, the finer and cleaner the soil, the bigger the roots will be. Remove all weeds and large stones.

Plant your roots according to the growing instructions, or ask a local grower for their advice. Regions, varieties and size and freshness of the roots vary considerably and you may like to try a few different methods at first. For example if you plant them a little closer together than usual, if some don't take, it's not a problem. But having said that, if you buy from a reputable company you should almost guarantee every plant a winner.

Horseradish can be very invasive, and container growing really is a good solution. Use those large half barrels or something similar.

Make sure containers are well drained and keep watered especially during hot sunny times. But the roots won't need hardly any attention and will probably still produce a good crop if you forget about it for weeks - Although there's no guarantee of that!

Harvesting and eating You can dig up hroots from mid summer onwards, but like parsnips, they taste much better after the first frost. If you live in a frost free zone, you can still get that extra taste by keeping them in the fridge for a day or two. Clean them first.

Make an easy sauce or garnish by mixing grated horseradish root with malt vinegar or white wine vinegar.

Happy Gardening!

More "Garden Herbs" Reading

http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/horseradish.html