Endive Escarole

Endive (Cichorium endivia family Compositae) is native to regions of the eastern Mediterranean and was grown and used by Greeks and Egyptians before the Christian era. Closely related to chicory, endive has small seeds (27,000 per ounce) which germinate quickly (5 to 14 days) under moist conditions and in varying temperatures from 60 to 70 F.

There are two principal types of endive: Curled or Curly with loose, narrow, medium green fringed and curly leaves; and Batavian or escarole with broader, thicker, smooth leaves that have a white midrib forming a loose head with partly blanched inner foliage.

Endive is more tolerant of summer heat and low soil moisture than most lettuce varieties, and is also slower to grow and mature (usually 85 to 95 days). The curled varieties can be cut and cropped, yet continue to produce new secondary edible leaves. These curled varieties such as Green Curled, Ruffed and Deep Heart have a slightly bitter flavor but are very decorative and desirable in salads and for garnish. The broad-leaved Batavian or escarole varieties are somewhat milder and add a different flavor and texture to salads.

Seed is usually sown direct in the garden in the early spring 1/4 inch deep in rows 2 to 3 feet apart, later thinned to 6 or 8 inches between plants. Four to five feet of row per adult in family will suffice for average table use.

For earlier harvest, seed may be started in flats indoors 6 to 8 weeks before planting time, then transplanted to the garden. Summer sowing of seed will produce autumn crops which, maturing in cooler weather, are apt to be somewhat milder in flavor and with less of the slight bitterness characteristic of summer harvested crops. Loosely tying the outer leaves upright to exclude sunlight tends to blanch the inner leaves, making them milder and reducing the bitter taste.

Harvest by cutting at base or carefully pulling entire plant when inner leaves are partly or wholly blanched. Outer leaves are apt to be bitter and usually are discarded.

Endive seldom is bothered by insects or disease problems. Sometimes, in mild damp areas, slugs or snails may appear and eat the foliage. Control them with special snail bait or slug protectant. Dry ashes around plants usually repel both slugs and snails.

Cress

Garden Cress or pepper grass (Lepidium sativum) belongs to the Cruciferae family and although similar in flavor to water cress and upland cress, it is far more popular and much easier to grow under ordinary gardening conditions. Water Cress (Nasturtium officinale) is a semi-aquatic plant requiring very cold spring water conditions to grow well. Upland Cress (Barbarea verna) tolerates a normal soil but is slower to grow, somewhat bitter in taste, and not commonly produced in U. S. gardens.

Garden Cress is both easy to grow and extremely fast to form edible leaves. The seeds are moderate in size (12,000 per ounce) and under moderate temperature of 65 to 70 germinate in 4 to 7 days.

Garden cress is probably the fastest seed to sprout of all garden vegetables. The young seedlings also grow rapidly and the very young immature leaves are tender, mildly pungent like water cress, and they can be cropped for table use when only a few inches high-10 days to 2 weeks old.

Garden cress is used commonly as a quick growing indoor crop, often available in pre-seeded kits with a medium of vermiculite, peat moss, etc., and is intended to be grown in a sunny kitchen window to produce edible leaves in 10 to 15 days. Grown this way indoors, cress can be available and used all winter long by successive plantings.

Outdoor spring and summer garden culture is also easy enough but for continued harvest one must make successive plantings every few weeks. Hot summer weather causes garden cress plants to bolt quickly and lose quality, so early cropping is necessary.

Sow the seed 1/4 inch deep in rows a foot apart and harvest as soon as seedlings are 3 to 4 inches high for the best quality.

A 10- to 15-foot row usually suffices for the average family. Cut with a sharp knife as soon as leaves are formed.

Chicory

Chicory (Cichorium intybus family Compositae), also known as French Endive or Witloof Chicory, is thought to be native to Europe and Asia. Although some chicory is grown for the roots which are dried, ground and used as a coffee adulerant, we will cover here the salad type and culture in which the blanched leaves are the garden crop wanted.

Chicory is related closely to endive but usually produced in a far different manner.

The seeds are small (27,000 per ounce) and they germinate in 7 to 14 days at temperatures between 68 to 85 R.

Seed ordinarily is spring sown a quarter inch deep in 15- to 18-inch rows and the seedlings thinned to eventually stand 4 to 5 inches apart. It must not be planted too early or premature flowering (bolting) will occur.

The parsnip-like roots are harvested in the fall before freezing weather, washed, and trimmed of all leaves except the single central crown bud on top. The roots are then stored under cover in a cool frost-free room.

These roots are stored and later planted for winter production of the edible shoots by setting them slantwise at a depth of 4 to 6 inches with crowns about even with the surface in a medium of sand, sawdust or a similar porous medium at temperatures of 50 to 60 F in a dark place. In 3 to 4 weeks the blanched heads or shoots appear and are ready to cut and harvest. Successive winter plantings of the stored dormant roots every 2 to 3 weeks can be made to produce edible shoots throughout the winter.