How to Grow Horseradish

Most of us have tasted horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) and appreciated its sinus-clearing and deliciously flavorful bite, but has it ever occurred to you to grow it?

How fun would it be to mix up a batch of Bloody Marys for your brunch guests, using your own homegrown horseradish?

Pair those classic morning drinks with some peeled and cocktail-sauced shrimp, also featuring your new crop, and your guests will be in awe.

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In addition to being popular in the kitchen, the horseradish plant has its fans – and a history – in the medicinal plant world, too.

Let’s learn more about this plant’s many uses, and then get down to business with the planting and harvesting. Here’s what we’re going to discuss:

Horseradish isn’t what I’d call a common backyard plant, but it has been around for a long, long time.

Popular as a medicinal and edible species, we’ve been cultivating it since at least 100 AD. Let’s explore the origins of horseradish.

Horseradish is a member of the Brassicaceae family, the same group from which cabbages, broccoli, and brussels sprouts come.

And while we’d typically refer to the root as a vegetable, the medicinal and culinary applications of the leaves and flowers lead many gardeners to call this plant an herb.

Horseradish is assumed to have originated around what is considered modern-day Russia, western Asia, and southeastern Europe, which should tip you off about this plant’s cold-loving nature.

As early as 100 AD, the plant had made an appearance in De Materia Medica, the definitive guide to medicines in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the book,