November 11, 2017 – This year’s experiment –
Belgian Endive
Belgian
endive (Cichorium intrybus) sometimes
called witloof or French endive is actually a type of chicory.
This
year – being really retired – I decided to experiment. I have always been fascinated about the
forcing of Belgian Endive. Horticulture’s
Step-by-Step article in the December 1990 issue found its way into my Gardening
scrapbook.
Last
winter I was aghast at the price of the ‘chicons’ being sold in the market and
they looked old and picked over. That
got me to thinking and researching Belgian Endive. Sure, takes a bit of trouble to grow step
one and then on to step two – but isn’t anything worth having worth a bit of
trouble? I was up for the challenge.
I
purchased Totem organic Chicory Seed from Johnny’s seed [Their product No
2320G.] Complete cultural and forcing
instructions are included with the seeds.
In the spring you plant the seeds and raise them in rows where they are
5 to 6 inches on center. I started mine
in seed blocks – so I ended up with more “forked” roots than normal. Next year I will start them in plug type
trays without the compaction of the soil in seed blocks – if this experiment is
successful, that is.
They
were big fluffy green leaved plants much like the look of an overgrown Romaine
lettuce. With that abundance of leaves,
I was expecting the roots to be much larger – but I wasn’t completely
disappointed when I dug them up this fall.
It was late September when I dug them up cautiously – not injuring the
roots. I started with 32 plants and ended up with about 26 roots worth keeping.
I cut
the tops back to 1 inch from the crown and laid them at my feet sizing them in
the shade. They ranged from a few larger
than the diameter of a quarter to those the diameter of a nickle. Anything smaller than that I tossed on the
compost pile. I let them rest in the
shade a day or so then brushed the soil off more and packed them up into
bundles of 6 to 8 roots in loose plastic and placed them in the crisper tray of
my spare refrigerator. They have now
passed the 6 to 10 week mark.
I
pulled out 8 roots – three of the big ones and 4 of the small ones and one of
the large forked one. I had saved some
wonderful “Monrovia” brand pots that are about 7 inches tall. They are two quart sized pots and sturdy.
I
mixed equal parts sand with unused potting soil and potted them up. I filled the pot ½ full of this mixture, then
pressed the roots into the soil and continued to fill the pot. Of course, I didn’t cut my roots short – like
the instructions said – they were longer and I created sleeves/collars around
the inside of the pots with three overlapping paper plates shoved down into the
soil. I continued to fill the pots and collars until they were just about at
the crown top. Then I watered them in
and placed two pots in a 15 inch tall black waste basket – the office type you
can find at Staples or Office Depot. [Recycled from my closed title company.]
I parked
the endive filled wastebasket in the master closet on the north end of the
house, popped an opaque plastic cover on the top for darkness. And, to give
them fresh air every day – I will stroll into the closet and pop the top off –
in the dark and brush my teeth – then when done – I will pop the top back
on. It is cool in that closet and we
keep the light out – so I’ve the cool and dark, just need to tweak the fresh
air and humidity bit. But, I once grew button mushrooms and was successful
without a lot of fuss and I think these will be similar. [Especially when I
surf the internet and see pictures of many European houses growing them under
the kitchen counter in a galvanized bucket.]
I am not “over-thinking” this project.
Above
is the link to Johnny’s horticultural instructions if this interests you.
So,
in 21-29 days I am hopeful that I will be harvesting chicons. In 14 days, I will put down the second run of
two pots and hopefully I will have a continuous crop for a few of these upcoming
winter months.
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