My chıcory tips
It takes a little bit of planning, but picking fresh chicory from the garden in the middle of winter is one of life’s joys, says Monty Don
TO have a supply of fresh salad leaves available to harvest and eat right round the year takes a little organisation and ingenuity – not to say some protection against the worst of the weather – but it is something I always try to do in my own garden.
You can start to grow a few select leaves such as rocket and some of the Japanese greens like mizuna and mibuna now, as well as some carefully selected lettuce varieties such as ‘Winter Density’ or ‘Rouge d’Hiver’. These can be sown in a seed tray so that the seedlings can be raised in a heated greenhouse or on a windowsill and then planted out in a greenhouse or under cloches to give fresh leaves ready to pick in March and April.
But for truly midwinter salads the sowing has to have begun no later than the beginning of September and in the case of chicory as early as April. That takes quite a lot of forethought and planning, but in the case of chicory I would say it’s more than worth it.
If you’ll pardon the pun, chicory is one of those vegetables that grows on you. Grow it well and it is delicious, very hardy and very little trouble. Certainly now is the season to relish it at its best and order seeds to be sown in spring for next year’s harvest. I don’t think most gardeners value it nearly enough, but there are so many different kinds to grow, all good to eat both raw and cooked, and many developing brilliant crimson leaves as a response to cold weather.
These leaves are slightly bitter but this is what makes chicory addictive, in a similar way to olives or dry sherry – or even kale, which is now so much more trendy than chicory and yet, for me at least, has only a fraction of the appeal.
All chicory is distinguished from lettuce by having two phases of growth. For the first 4-5 months after sowing the plants develop a large green head like a cross between lettuce and cabbage. These leaves do not get eaten but make a good addition to the compost heap as their role is solely to feed and nurture the roots, which include a deep tap root. This root stores the nutrition for the second phase. As the days shorten and the weather gets colder the chicory starts to grow the more ornamental leaves that we recognise and which are much sweeter than the very bitter initial flush. To allow plenty of air to get to these it is necessary to remove the older growth bit by bit – and to space the plants widely enough so that they can grow to a decent size and have air all around them. Having 23cm (9in) between each plant is about right.
I’ve grown many different winter chicory varieties (and still grow others like endives for summer harvesting) over the years but now tend to stick to favourites like the round, tightly packed radicchio ‘Palla Rossa’ and the taller, more upright but richly coloured ‘Rossa di Treviso’. Both are best harvested by cutting them off at the base and discarding any leaves with significant green, which will be too bitter. New growth will sprout from the cut base and in a good year you can have three distinct harvests from them lasting well into April.
Although very hardy, chicory hates the combination of wet and cold, and responds by developing a slimy carapace of rotten leaves. This looks disastrous but these can be wiped away to reveal perfectly healthy growth underneath. I’ve found that openended cloches, which keep them dry but also allow good ventilation, are the answer.