What has everyone else still got to pick?

[vivienz]

Hi Monika,

Seeds of Italy do one, but I also had a packet with 4 different varieties in it. I can't remember which brand it was now, but I think I got it from a garden centre and it was their attempt to cash in on SoI's popularity. I'm really getting into the broad leaved one at the moment. It's nowhere near as bitter as I thought it was going to be, about the same or slightly less than radicchio and with a lovely chewy texture.
I'll see if I can root out the seeds tomorrow and let you know for sure.

Best wishes,
Vivien

[alan refail]

Monika

There is a useful thread on the Technical Data Forum.

Broad-leaved varieties such as Cornet de Bordeaux can be tied up to blanch:



Cut-leaved varieties such as Frisée de Meaux or Frisée très fine de Louviers grow flat to the ground and, in France, are always sold blanched like this:




This is usually done (commercially at least) by using special plastic cloches like this:

[Mike Vogel]

Today i picked some sorrel, frisee, red lettuce, salad burnet, rocket and a few carrots. There are plenty of parsnips, jerusalem artichokes and celeriac waiting for when needed.

My sprouts, though, are a joke. Sown too late and about 1 ft high.
mike

[Monika]

Many thanks for your replies, but coming back to the escarole/frisee/chicoree, how hardy are they? I once tried to grow radicchio on our allotment (exposed, windy, overall not very sunny area) and they didn't come to anything. We can't grow sweetcorn or butternut squash, for instance, so would the above greens thrive?

[alan refail]

Monika
Over winter scarole grown outside are susceptible to damp rather than cold, especially the frizzy varieties. I am fortunate to have a polytunnel to fill with them, and never lose any to frost.

[Johnboy]

Hi Alan,
Regret to say that your second picture is of Endive Kentucky which actually grows like that and still needs blanching to remove some of the bitterness.
JB.

[vivienz]

Hi Monika,
I'm not expecting the frisee to last too much longer as it's going to be really cold next weekend. As for the escarole, I understand that they will be okay in a light frost, but nothing too severe. The radicchio are supposed to be very hardy and are starting to develop nice little hearts at the moment. If we get any really hard frosts then I shall probably try and protect them with some fleece just in case, but I will update you on their progress through the winter. There is a variety called grumolo (red or green) and that is supposed to very hardy indeed, but I think I sowed these a little late as they are quite small still and I'm not sure they will survive, although they are supposed to fill out in early spring rather than being a winter thing.
Best wishes,
Vivien