Not every crop needs the bright sun and blistering heat of summer to flourish. In fact, some of our most familiar vegetables are considered cool weather crops, meaning they may do even better in the early spring and fall than in the middle of summer when all the other crops are growing like crazy. Some examples of cool weather crops include broccoli, cabbage, and other brassicas (relatives of the wild mustard plant: kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and more). Other crops include lettuces, carrots, peas, onions, and the list goes on!

Why Cool Weather Crops?

Growing crops in cool weather, whether on the farm or in the backyard garden, can have some distinct advantages, the biggest of which is a reduction in insect pressure. This means, fewer bugs are around to gobble up the vegetables. It is a lot harder for cabbage moths to lay their eggs with an autumn breeze nipping their wingtips. In addition, these cold- and frost-hardy plants mean farmers can extend their growing seasons into times of the year when they wouldn’t normally be able to farm. Some crops even taste better with a little touch of cool weather, due to plants producing sugars to protect themselves from freezing.

What does this mean for farmers?

Planning for cool weather crops can be a critical part of a farmer’s year. A few years back, I got the chance to visit a friend in Virginia with plans for getting broccoli and cabbage ready to grow for places like Whole Foods and Ingles’ Markets. He lets his seedlings grow in a hydroponic system so the seedling trays are kept in water.

This method ensures his seedlings are healthy and strong when it comes time to plant them out. When the weather is chilly, they grow under tunnel greenhouses, and when things warm up, they open their greenhouses up to let the seedlings bask in the fresh air. In the below picture, you can see how similar the seedlings look! The main way to tell the broccoli apart from the cabbage is the slight color difference.

On the Podcast

We’ve talked to several farmers who grow crops that do well in cool weather.

Lettuce, especially head lettuce (like iceberg) is a great crop to grow when the weather is cooler. Way back in 2019, we talked to lettuce farmer, Jon Dinsmore. You can also check out a tour of his lettuce farm in Arizona.

Onions are another crop that can be grown in the cooler months. In fact, for onions to produce seeds, they need to overwinter! Check out our talk with Shay Myers of Owyhee Produce and see a video of the unique way onions are harvested.

And if you want to know more about gardening, urban farming, and how you can get started with your own cool weather crops (and warm weather crops, for that matter), you should really take a look at the We Sow, We Grow program, led by Natasha Nichols up in Chicago. She’s doing incredible work and helping gardeners of all levels and backgrounds grow food.

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Did you know Illinois is know for growing horseradish? Ok, maybe it’s not as famous for that as it is for Chicago’s Miracle Mile, but the majority of the horseradish eaten in the US is grown in Illinois/Missouri area.

(A transcript for this episode about horseradish is available.)

Happenstance Piqued My Interest

Years ago a farmer drove me by a neighbor’s horseradish field and it raised a lot more questions than it answered! Question have been growing ever since and I’m surprised how many people, when they heard I was headed to a horseradish farm, launched into questions too.

I found the perfect interview with Matt McMillan! He seemed to enjoy answering the questions as much as I enjoyed getting answers.

Matt lives just a short drive east of St. Louis in Collinsville, IL. the “world’s horseradish capital.” And we sat down to talk about what makes the condiment and plant so unique. And seriously, you can hear the enthusiasm throughout the visit in the podcast episode and the accompanying video.

Enjoying Horseradish

Horseradish isn’t something everyone thinks about when they start listing favorite foods, but the distinctive shredded root is a great compliment that enables some of us to better enjoy favorite foods like prime rib, oysters and it puts a bite in bloody marys too!

Matt tells us there are passionate fans of horseradish — people like his dad — who like a bit of horseradish with most meals. And while I wasn’t familiar with adding the spicy kick to mashed potatoes or burgers, but I am willing to give it a shot.

It’s a different kind of spice though as it hits you in your sinuses, rather your tastebuds like a ghost pepper or something. That kick is short-lived with horseradish and hot mustards too (the plants are both part of the brassica family). Matt says that’s based on the oil released. So you don’t want to let horseradish dry up.

For a lot of us, horseradish is a sauce, more than a few people I talked to couldn’t picture a horseradish plant.

But it’s a big root that is grated to provide the condiment we use. If you are like me and haven’t bought horseradish in the produce section, this video with Andrew Zimmern shows how to prepare horseradish.

What’s growing horseradish look like?

Getting Matt to take me out to a farm really helped me picture it. The plant grows low to the ground, putting most of the energy into making that root big. Horseradish is planted in the spring (April-May) by planting secondary roots from a previous crop. It is harvested starting in September but can go as late as May as the root comes out of dormancy and will be growing again come spring.

This video not only shows Matt digging up a horseradish, but we talk about how it’s planted & harvested and you’ll see video from that Matt was nice enough to share.

Because horseradish is a niche crop that requires so specialized equipment, there are only a couple dozen farmers who grow it at scale. Almost all of them are headquartered in the Collinsville area. It can be grown in gardens at home though and just this week I was listening to a book where someone talked about growing it.

Barry McMillan (Matt’s dad) did an interview a little while back and explained that horseradish takes a lot of labor but also offers farmers a good return if they can do it at scale.

Horseradish Festival

The small town of Collinsville hosts a horseradish festival the first weekend in June each year. You’ll hear Matt & I talk about it a bit in the podcast episode. You can find more information on the festival’s Facebook page or website.

The post Getting to the Root of Enjoying & Growing Horseradish! appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.