Chicory & Endive

syn. Radicchio and Endive
Chicory is a useful cool season crop to add interest to winter salads. It is also an excellent year round ‘baby leaf’ or microgreen and it can be sprouted. Chicory is hardy, disease-resistant and frost and drought tolerant. Sow late summer to autumn, directly where they are to grow. Sow 10 mm deep. Thin seedlings to 25 – 30 cm apart, rows should be 38 cm apart. Keep soil moist; add organic fertiliser when plants are half grown. It prefers a pH of 5.5 to 6.5; prepare soil by digging well-rotted compost or animal manure through the bed. Plant in full sun. Best in temperate and subtropical areas.