We had quite a surprise waiting for us when we uncovered our horseradish beds this year! We cover our beds for the winter with straw to help a little bit on the insulation factor, it really can mean the difference between survival or not in our brutally cold growing zones!
Our horseradish was coming on pretty strong all ready, despite just having snow on it a week ago and being covered by four inches of straw! I bet it’s quite glad to be getting some sun now, it was definitely ready to start photosynthesizing!
We started this horseradish bed three years ago and each year, they are coming on stronger and stronger. It was pretty weak last year, enough that we thought we had to replace one of the plants. This year, though, there’s no mistaking we are seeing 100% recovery!
In theory, this might be the year where we can take our first horseradish harvest. More than likely, we’ll let it be for this year and evaluate where we’re at next year. With our harsh winters, it’s important to give some perennials the best chance at survival and sometimes that means foregoing a harvest.
Super glad to see these guys back, vying for a position among our strongest early perennials. And yes, in case you didn’t know, horseradish is hardy down to zone 3!
