Medwyn Williams on why horseradish challenges him
We did really well, although I still haven’t managed to stage horseradish!
It’s a busy time of the year for me, with the Malvern Show at the end of September. My team, which includes my wife Gwenda and son Alwyn, were really pleased with our 6m (20ft) long display of vegetables at the event this year. We were awarded a gold medal as well as the best exhibit in show, with some of the judges commenting that it was the best display of vegetables they’d ever seen. The stand contained more than 120 dishes consisting of well over 40 different varieties, proving that when vegetables are staged naked, the colours are as vibrant as any flower exhibit.
There is, however, one vegetable that I just can’t stage and I’ve tried on a few occasions. And that is horseradish. It’s such a powerful grower that its roots spread like tentacles and resembles an octopus more than a vegetable! If you plant it in the open garden it certainly needs containing as it’ll quickly spread like a weed.
However, there’s nothing quite like the aroma when you make your own horseradish sauce. It’s much more powerful than any you can buy, one bite of pungent, prepared horseradish is enough to clear out anyone’s sinuses! Horseradish was one of the five bitter herbs (along with coriander, horehound, lettuce and nettle) eaten historically during the feast of the Passover. In present times, horseradish is still commonly used in the Passover Seder.
In an attempt to try and grow a specimen that we could possibly stage on our display, Alwyn decided he’d grow a few plants in four wheelie bins. These are bins that I’ve had for years and they have holes already drilled in them for drainage for a previous crop of long roots. The roots were left in the bin for two years as one year’s growth just produced very thin specimens. After a great deal of trouble trying to remove the beast from the bin, it had well and truly rooted itself to the soil below and the result was very disappointing.
The whole root was massive and heavy and had totally entwined itself with no chance of staging anything.