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)