It ’s just about horseradish harvesting time ! Yummy ! Most horseradish growers wait until the first frost kills the folio , but I like to harvest originally , not just because I ’m almost finish with the last jar of prepared horseradish from last year ’s harvest . I also remember that the shoots re - embed in tumble grow better than those replant in wintertime . Although the leaves do n’t bet anything similar , horseradish , Armoracia rusticana , is a congeneric of cabbage and broccoli and is native to Eastern Europe . Horseradishis a very common condiment in the culinary art of most northern European countries , southwestern Illinois farm 85 percent of the reality ’s commercially crop horseradish root . There are a few horseradish growers in the hills around Umbria , but Italians , admit my wife , are n’t more often than not bragging horseradish consumers .
Making fain Armoracia rusticana could n’t be much well-off . I dig up the solution and wash them off well , which is the intemperate part . I separate out a few nice shoots to set for next year ’s crop and then throw the residuum of the root into the blender . I like my horseradish a bit chunky so I just hack the roots for a minute or so , but if I leave the blender running for farseeing I can bring forth a very creamy blend . I flux a little amount of salt and vinegar into the horseradish slurry and then swarm the mix into little jars that I have previously boiled . I do n’t use any fancy sealing , just the regular jar detonating equipment screwed on tightly . The resultant jars of fain red cole can last for a whole twelvemonth easily , and they do n’t seem to ever appeal any mold , even once they have been open .
I should mention how spicy and gaseous the chopped horseradish in the blender is . It makes chopped Cayenne peppers look tame by comparison . lift up the cover and smelling the mix is a very unfit idea as the gas can combust one ’s eyes , as I know from experience . Wives who do not wish Armoracia rusticana should definitely be away from home during horseradish preparation . Martin Cooper / Flickr
Today ’s second photo is of a estimable looking milliped in the garden . Unlike centipede that do bite sometimes , millipedes just release lousy compound that can be poisonous . I remember some of the icteric blemish millipedes in the States emit a nitrile juice that can make people sick .
I do n’t have worry with either centipede or millipedes in the garden and consider them helpful vulture . I wasted a respectable quarter of an hour as I watch a milliped wander around my garden table while I snap him . It was one of those second when I marvel at how terrific our whole biological scheme is and how many awesome animal make up the mixing .
Martin Cooper/Flickr
