Quality seeds for kitchen, cottage and native gardeners
Vegetable Seeds Catalogue
Chicory and Endive
Chicory Family – endive, escarole, radicchio, dandelion (Chicorium sp.)
Sds/g: 500-900 Feed Requirements: Low Usual Seed Life: 4 years
Cultural Notes:
- Generally, the chicory family grows best in cool weather (Italian dandelion can be grown successfully year-round though) and frosts enhance their flavour. Hot weather can make them extremely bitter, while frosts make them tastier and less bitter.
- If you love your chicories and want some in spring grow the earlier/faster-maturing varieties, leave the heading varieties for autumn and winter harvest as they are slower growing and will taste very bitter if planted in spring.
- Escarole is the most mild of the chicories. There are leaf and heading varieties.
- Sow seed 1 cm deep in rows 45 cm apart. Thin leaf varieties to 8 – 10 cm. February sowings of heading varieties should be thinned to 45 cm and late March/early April to about 30 cm.
Problems:
- Over-wintered crop may rot or suffer from moulds and mildews if there is a lot of rain, so if you live in a wet area keep them covered or at least well spaced and in a spot with good air circulation.
Harvest:
- Harvest leaf as required and/or for heading varieties harvest when there is a tight head.
- From an autumn sowing harvest or pull plants before the weather warms up and the plants start running to seed.
- Some endives can be blanched by tying the leaves up or placing a box (eg. Belgian Witlof)
Sowing periods
Stunning red ribs and deep green leaves make this chicory a real eye-catcher. Chicory is a must for any mesclun mix or Italian salad as it adds great flavour and colour. Chicory is only slightly more bitter than a cos lettuce and is a great salad green during cooler weather. Frost and drought tolerant it does well in most soils as well as pots. 500 seeds.
Famous for the forced, blanched heads (chichons) that are loved by gourmets for their flavour and are used either cooked or raw in salads. In autumn when the roots are size the of a parsnip, lift from the ground and trim leaves to within 3-5cm of the root. Dig a trench 15cm deep in the garden and replant the roots upright side by side and re-cover with either soil or sand. Finally cover with a drum or box to exclude all light. Or plant in pots, keep soil moist, cover to prevent light and place indoors. The chichons will be ready to use in 8-12 weeks. 400 seeds.
Also known as Italian dandelion. A high yielding super tasty chicory with long, slender deeply cut leaves & white mid-ribs. A pleasant bitter European green that is a must for any Mesclun mix or Italian salad, also tasty lightly steamed. An essential salad green all year round as it handles light frost & has some drought tolerance. Reputed to help detox the liver when cleansing. Harvest young or full sized leaves as needed. 400 seeds.
A large leaf chicory that is not so bitter but has a sweetness to the crisp, tender green leaves (hence the name sugarloaf). Leaves can be picked young or when mature as a whole head. The inside leaves of the mature plants self blanche. While this can be grown year round, it’s often grown through the winter months as an alternative to lettuce as it handles colder/wetter conditions. 300 seeds.
A perfect mix of fine (endive) and broader (escarole) leafed European greens. These mildly bitter greens grow well through the cooler months. While these varieties all have slightly different maturing dates for a full head harvest, leaves can harvested as kitchen demand requires. Grows well in fertile, moist soil with plenty of sun. 60 seeds.
A useful salad plant for the cooler months, able to tolerate damp autumn and winter nights. Endives grow well in fertile, moist soil with plenty of sun and extra lime if the soil is acid. Can be sown directly in early spring and mid to late summer or grow in punnets and transplant into the garden. 300 seeds
A miniature French heirloom variety with narrow finely curled leaves. A delicate flavour, especially when leaves are harvested young. For a fuller flavour harvest the older leaves. Eat raw in salads or lightly cook. For a sweeter taste, blanch the interior by bundling up the outer leaves while growing and secure with an elastic band. Endive prefers fertile, moist soil with plenty of sun. 250 seeds.
The perfect salad green for the cooler, wetter months as it is tough, crisp and tasty – when a many lettuce varieties struggle. An Italian heirloom with frilly, serrated green leaves can be eaten raw, blanched or cooked. A bitter green that gets sweeter over the colder months. Endive grows well in fertile, moist soil with plenty of sun and extra lime if the soil is acid. 300 seeds.