~ CHICORY SEED ~
Chicory is very hardy, and quite versatile - it can be boiled, sautéed or used raw in salads for extra colour and flavour.
Sowing Information
It is best grown as a cool-weather crop, as it can get bitter in hot conditions. It is hardy, so it is often sown quite late for harvest in autumn and winter. Cold nights are needed for good colour development.
Suglarloaf Chicory
There's been a recent resurgence in popularity for chicory as a salad ingredient, thanks to very mild varieties such as this one, which makes an upright cylindrical head. The pale green leaves are crisp and juicy, and as the name suggests, much less bitter than normal chicory. In Italy it is also steamed or boiled and used as a green vegetable as well as a salad.
A great winter salad addition.
500 seed £
Lusia Chicory
A very pretty mild salad chicory that starts out upright but later makes a head, with red-tinged flecks and edges to the leaves.
Nice addition to salads, sow in summer for harvest in autumn.
600 seed £
Sowing Information
Best to sow this one in late summer for harvest in autumn - it will only develop properly dark red colour with cool nights, in warm conditions they will tend to stay green.
Ingegnoli's Self-Blanching Chicory
A lovely chicory from the seedhouse of Ingegnoli in Italy, with loose-heading plants making crisp tasty leaves that aren’t bitter.
Easy to grow - pick the young leaves for salads, or allow to head up. Better than lettuce in burgers and hotdogs as it does't go limp when warm.
We trialled lots of chicories, and we reckon this one is a real star.
600 seed £
'Romanesca Cutting' Salad Endive
A non heading oakleaf type, this Italian endive was bred to be used in salads. Only very slightly bitter as long as weather is cool, and excellent grown overwinter in a polytunnel or greenhouse. This is very good shredded and drizzled with balsamic vinegar under a pile of sliced beetroot.
Especially useful sown in autumn for overwinter salads.
hundreds seed £
Sowing Information
"Palla Rossa 3" - RED HEADING CHICORY
This popular, tried and tested chicory has been chosen for its nice round red heads and bright white ribs. A modern reselection of the traditional Palla Rossa variety - it starts out as an open shape but then heads up later into a tight ball, and is bolt-resistant.
Note that it is only a proper deep red colour in cool weather conditions, in the autumn. If grown in hot weather it stays green.
At least 1000 seed £
