Harvesting the back 40

Don't say it.

Freshly harvested horseradish

No matter where we go we always have a back 40. In China both the front and back balcony served as our garden plots. We grew herbs and peppers and lots of flowers that died pretty quick.

Now that we are back at home and trying to get the garden and landscaping back under control  we have made huge efforts to mulch. This weekend during the mulching we noted the horseradish leaves had heaved over and given in to the cold and frost. That means we can dig up the roots. Hurray. Not really, have you ever really smelled this stuff.

The first year Big Daddy planted the horseradish is the year he was exiled to China before the hard frost came. We had never harvested or worked with this stuff before.

We are making prepared horseradish. It makes your entire house smell and it makes your eyes burn. It is some nasty stuff. Big Daddy added some vinegar, salt and sugar in the food processor and we have something that is excellent. Note: Some people use the old fashioned grinder outside for this reason, but the smell does not last that long.

We ended up with about a quart of finished product. And it is some hot stuff.