Horseradish as a problem child

The most delicious delights: Even asparagus is already sprouting

Richard Oberer from Markt Hartmannsdorf with his fresh, tasty green asparagus

(Bild: Gertrude Oberer)

Thanks to the weather, wonderful fresh Styrian delicacies are already on the market - much earlier than usual! Green asparagus, kohlrabi, crunchy radishes, lettuce, wild garlic! However, the horseradish is not in good shape.

It feels a bit like being on vacation when you can stroll through the farmers' market and now, in spring, these wonderful, fresh delicacies are already tempting you everywhere! Crisp salads such as Grazer Krauthäuptel can be found on many tables much earlier this year, with the main harvest already taking place at Easter. 100 Styrian farms are growing 15 million pieces of this popular lettuce, mostly protected under foil tunnels. It is quite rightly the vitamin-rich, low-calorie favorite of the Styrians!

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

 Radishes, which can also already be harvested, provide the red blob in the wonderfully green salad. "The lettuce is never as good as it is now!" enthuses a visitor during our visit to the Kaiser-Josef market in Graz - and she has colorful lettuces, rocket salad and cabbage leaves placed in her shopping basket.

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

The market is also full of other Styrian culinary temptations. Young carrots want a place in the salad bowl, young spinach is a delicacy, the kohlrabi is so good that we have to try a raw one. . . And there is also wild garlic, what a crowning glory for every salad, on the egg dish, the sandwich!

We have also seen: Flowers, plants, of course everything to do with the Easter snack, with Chinese cabbage still containing vitamins from last year and lots of decorations for Easter joy in your own four walls, on the balcony or in the garden.

(Bild: Gertrude Oberer)

And: fresh green asparagus is already available! Richard Oberer in Markt Hartmannsdorf, for example, is one of the young, wild vegetable farmers - he can already harvest the first ones and offer them in the farm store and the "Vitaminhütt'n" in Nestelbach in Ilztal: "Certainly two weeks earlier than usual," says the innovative young farmer happily. "And it tastes really good too, we're very happy with the quality." His light-colored companion should not be long in coming either, "depending on the weather, we expect the white asparagus in mid-April".

Horseradish is the problem child

Everything is perfect - with a shadow over the light. Horseradish is an inseparable part of Easter, no snack without the spicy root. However, the weather has taken its toll on the Styrian noble vegetable: "The summer was too wet, the fall too dry - horseradish needs the exact opposite," says Thomas Gasper, spokesman for the Styrian horseradish farmers. Although this was reflected in the best taste quality, it resulted in a poor harvest, first in November and now in March. In addition, the price is a disaster for Styrian producers: "We can't produce for the money the trade is offering us. We get 2 euros per kilo - a kilo is sold in stores, grated and in a jar - for 27!"

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

And this for one of the most labor-intensive products that thrive on Styrian soil. Gaspar: "Around 30,000 pieces grow on one hectare, each of which has to be harvested 26 times before it can be harvested. With up to 1000 working hours per hectare, this makes horseradish a very costly product." This, the miserable prices and capricious weather conditions are causing many farmers to give up. Gaspar: "Last year, 52 farmers were still growing horseradish on 300 hectares, this year there are 45 on 280 hectares - and the number is still falling." Conclusion: "There is still enough delicious Styrian horseradish for this year's Easter snack - but next year it will be a tight story. . ."