I have become obsessed with finding wild horseradish. Having never previously known that the fiery king of condiments was to be found freely in our hedgerows, I have spent the past week scanning every inch of greenery in the hope of finding some.

Unfortunately for me, there is one major problem with finding wild horseradish in situ - that being that it bears an almost identical resemblance to one of the most common (and unedible) plants of the hedgerow - the dock:


slowly but surely I am gaining the ability to differentiate between the two - here's what I know:

• docks have dark green, turning red spotted leaves
• the leaves are not toothed
• single central stem with leaves branching off

• a 'shuttlecock' appearance, with a central node in the ground that all leaves spring directly from
• It also has toothed edges to the light green leaves
• It produces white flowers