I was so confused. What was it that I actually planted? You’ve heard Shakespeare’s line “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”? That may be true of roses, but I planted endive and it sure didn’t look like the stuff in the grocery store.
I meant to plant Belgian endive, a leafy vegetable with white or very light green leaves held tightly in small, oblong heads. What came up were large heads of greens, each the size of a dinner plate.
Going back to look at the seed packet, I found “ENDIVE” and below that, the words “Broadleaved Batavian Escarole.” Some research (which should have been done before planting) was in order.
What I learned is that everyone else is confused about endive too! But here goes with the explanation.
The Belgian endive I intended to plant is actually witloof chicory, a cultivated variety of the common, blue-flowered chicory that decorates the edges of country roads this time of year. Witloof is a Dutch word meaning “white leaf.” Seeds are sown in spring and the plant is allowed to grow throughout the season. In fall, plant tops are cut off and the roots are covered with mounds of soil or thick straw so the plant regrows entirely in darkness to produce its white color. Only the extreme tips of the leaves are allowed light exposure. This produces tender white heads that can be grilled, steamed, boiled or eaten raw.
This second stage of growth can be done indoors by digging the roots in fall, cutting off the tops and setting the roots upright in a deep box or flowerpot. Fill the container with potting soil to the tops of the roots and add 6-8 inches of sand above that. Keep moist and at 60-70 degrees. Harvest when the growing tips peek through the sand.
The endive I planted was really escarole, a salad green with wide, bowl-shaped heads. The seed packet says that when the heads get big enough that the plants touch each other, the outer leaves can be tied together with twine to shade the inner leaves, thus keeping the inner leaves whiter in color and milder in flavor. Harvest two or three weeks later. The mix of white and green leaves is pretty on the salad plate, but the white leaves contain less Vitamin C.
Honestly, I looked at the plants when the leaves began touching their neighbors and couldn’t see how I could gather the outer leaves to tie them. Too late, I learned that upending flower pots over them would do the trick. Escarole needs about an inch of water a week so the pots would have to be lifted to make sure they get it.
I also learned that in this case when the seed packet says “Thin to 12-18 inches” they really mean it. Wherever the plants touched, they became slimy and rotten.
Careful reading of the seed packet and some timely research would have produced better results!
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