With the unusually warm weather causing plants to sprout, it was time this week to dig up some horseradish for use on the Passover seder plate.
Horseradish is extremely easy to grow, and I've had it in the yard for several years. All one needs to do is drop a piece of root into the ground and just let it grow. That's it. It will take, however, a couple of years for the root to develop into a useable size and length.
The plant creates a large crown of long, flat, broad leaves — a bit like an enormous, old style Romaine lettuce — with sprays of small, white flowers whose fragrance is remarkably pleasant. I have, in fact, cut the flowers for indoor bouquets.
I was a bit surprised in harvesting the plant to discover how much the root had branched into a tree-like array. Perhaps this was due to the variety of horseradish; perhaps it was due to the heavy clay in the soil. Nonetheless, I didn't have a large-diameter root, but rather a root with many branches, the stoutest part being about 2 inches thick.
As you can see in this photo, I kept two pieces to prepare for use on the seder plate, with the rest replanted in the ground for future harvests. I still haven't decided whether I'll grate part of the harvest to make my own khreyn, but I'll keep you informed.