A really hot commodity  

Tulelake farm family maintains tradition of growing, marketing horseradish  

By LEE JUILLERAT  

H&N Regional Editor 

May 3, 2007

Rafeal Hernandez drives a specially designed bulker that collects freshly dug horseradish roots.

   TULELAKE — For Dave and Jacqui Krizo, growing and processing horseradish is getting back to their roots. 

   Horseradish is a long rooted in their family histories. 

   Jack Newkirk, Jacqui’s father, was a World War II veteran who won a homestead in 1949 and was among the original group of Basin farmers who planted horseradish in the mid-1950s. 

   Dave’s father, Phil, and his grandfather, Frank, were Czechs from Slovakia . Frank came to the United States in 1915, eventually working his way to the Tulelake Basin , where he received a World War I homestead in 1927. Phil Krizo, who had his name pulled in the 1947 drawing, was among the few people living in the Klamath and Tulelake basins who received a homestead. 

Organic Horseradish owner Dave Krizo examines cleaned, cut horseradish that’s boxed and shipped to buyers nationwide.

   Certified organic 

   Dave and Jacqui, who raised barley and oats when they moved back to the region in 1975, took over the horseradish business in 1986 following Newkirk’s death. Along with 450 acres in grain and field peas, they have another 175 acres in horseradish. Since 1998 the horseradish acreage has been certified organic by Oregon Tilth. 

   The Krizos are among the five growers who sell sold bulk horseradish roots through the Tulelake Horseradish Association. They also sell roots in 5- and 10-pound boxes and 50-pound sacks to health food stores for people who want to grind their own horseradish. 

   More recently, the Krizos have launched something new, Volcanic Organic Horseradish. It’s available in 4-ounce bottles at places like Howard’s Meat Center , Leap of Taste and Night Fire Natural Foods in Klamath Falls and, Jock’s Supermarket and Tulelake Auto Parts in Tulelake. 

   Supplies are also available in pints, quarts and gallons through the Krizos — “Whatever anybody would want,” Dave says. 

   He and Jacqui regard their business, the Organic Horseradish Company, a start-up that’s seeking a niche market. So far they’re offering two varieties, Organic Tulelake Grown Horseradish and Organic Tulelake Grown Horseradish Mustard. 

   But they don’t like it 

   Don’t ask the Krizos for favorite recipes. 

   “No, we don’t like it,” Jacqui says. 

   “I like a little bit of horseradish on some things,” Dave offers. 

   The Krizos ventured into manufacturing their own, partly because the Tulelake name disappeared from horseradish bottles when the old Tulelake Horseradish brand was bought by Mezzetta and, more recently, Beaver. 

   “We thought there was a market for it,” Dave says. 

   “So many people are looking for organic now,” Jacqui adds. 

   The Krizos save a portion of their crop, which is harvested in the spring and fall, for their business. The horseradish is processed elsewhere but bottled in Tulelake, usually about 20 cases at a time. 

   The current ongoing digging is being done by the Krizos two full-time employees, Jesse Chavolla and Rafael Hernandez. The fat, hairy roots — about 8 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter — are sent to a plant outside Tulelake where the cleaned roots are chopped, bagged and shipped for processing to buyers nationwide. 

   “It’s kind of a combination between the high organic soils and the temperatures,” Dave believes of why horseradish thrives in the Tulelake Basin . “When we grow regular radishes in the garden, they’re so hot you can’t even eat them.”

Workers on the processing line pull off leaves from freshly harvested horseradish plants. The roots are eventually cleaned, cut and boxed for shipping.  

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