Friday, June 13, 2014

Whad'ya Know – Radicchio


This year I didn’t start spring vegetables such as broccoli from seeds, so we bought broccoli plants at a nursery. Then Dennis went to the Lawrence Farmers Market and stopped by a booth selling starter plants. He came home with an odd assortment of four-packs, including a heritage red and green, cos-type lettuce called Forellenschluss, radicchio, arugula, and cilantro. Set into the garden the arugula and cilantro shot up and went to seed before we could harvest them. We should have direct seeded those instead of buying plants.

The Forellenschluss matured in a more timely manner and was a good investment. Dennis harvested the heads by cutting them at the base and now the roots, which he didn’t disturb, are growing new lettuce heads.


One radicchio shot up and started a seed head, so that one went to the chickens, who pronounced it delicious. Yesterday Dennis harvested a radicchio that was, as Goldilocks would say, “just right.” I pulled off the outer leaves for the chickens and was left with this pretty rosette, shown here in a cereal bowl.


Here it is again, this time resting on freshly-harvested broccoli.


Radicchio is a perennial chicory. If we aren't too lazy we can double the output by digging up the radicchio roots, potting them in peat moss, and putting them in the basement to grow again. Like the lettuce, it also would re-grow in the garden, but it grows more slowly and wouldn’t do well if hot weather comes, which surely will happen.

My grocery store sells radicchio heads for $3.99, so I’ve concluded that Dennis made a couple of wise purchases at the farmers market.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer

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