10 May, 2012 
I spent most of the day working outside in rain, sleet, wind and cold. Not surprisingly, by late afternoon I found myself thinking of warming food. I looked down and realised I was right next to the horseradish bed. Excellent. I dug up a large handful of roots to be processed and bottled. I’ll set some aside to make a horseradish sauce tomorrow, which I’ll spread over slices of boiled pork for dinner. I may also stir a spoonful or two into mashed potato, making a truly warming meal. We may not be able to grow chillies this far north, but who needs them when horseradish is to hand?
(Photo by the Big Lad.)
I love horseradish although I’ve never grown it. The horseradish sauce we buy here in France is really hot though and the hotter the better. It’s a completely different experience from chillies. I just love the fact that the heat seems to fizz up my nose and then explode out of the top of my head. I could almost see how it could become addictive! By the way I’m glad your wrist is pretty much better and that you can get on with things now – that must be a huge relief.
My wrist is coming along. It has a persistent ache that gets worse in cold, damp weather—and, yes, that’s what we usually experience.
I lost about 70% of the strength in my right arm thanks to the inactivity on top of the injury so I’m having to build it back up again. Prior to breaking my wrist, I could knock out 28-30 press-ups without bother. I’ve built back up to 10 now—two weeks ago it was three—but I creak and crack as I do them. Similar with triceps dips.
I still can’t do a full pull-up as it puts too much strain on my wrist, but it should be too much longer.
When I saw the physio for the last of my three appointments she told me I’d have to accept some reduction in function, particularly when I bend the back of my hand up towards my wrist. I told her I didn’t accept that and by doing the press-ups plus triceps dips (with a chair) I’m gradually restoring the full function. It’s painful and noisy but I’m getting there.
Ideally, I need to get back to being able to carry 35-40kg in one hand for 100 metres or more, or a 25-30kg weight in each hand over the same distance. I need to be able to drive in 20-30 fence posts with a 12lb fencing maul in a morning, take a tree down with an axe and limb it before hand sawing and splitting it, swing a scythe for hours, and restrain a finished pig of between 60-80kg. It’s going to take a while, but I have no intention of accepting anything less, despite what the physio says.
I hope it works for you Stonehead. I must be older because I certainly don’t heal like I used to. All of those old injuries and breaks are coming back to haunt me. Mind you, this could well be because I thought I was indestructible then and never gave anything the time it needed to heal properly…
Our horse radish always seemed a bit mild and limp
Maybe we were harvesting it too early as we pulled it after about 6 months. Or we have a mild variety.
I want to stuff that blows your head off
I left one of mine in the garden over the winter. I am going to go have a look at it. Do you think I can keep it? Just look at the pile you have!