Fri 2 Jan 2009
If you love salad, reserve a row in your late summer garden for endive. A short row of 6 to 12 plants will give you a delicious substitute for lettuce until heavy frosts kill the plants. Endive plants are low growing and can spread to 18 inches wide.
How to plant
Endive is not particular about the type of soil you plant it in. Over most of the country, late summer plantings for a fall harvest are most successful. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart. In dry weather, dig a furrow 3 inches deep and scatter seeds in the bottom. Cover the seeds with 1 inch of soil and flood the furrow daily until the seeds sprout. Thin to 12 to 18 inches apart. Although hot weather thinnings can be bitter in taste, the flavor will improve with cool weather and blanching.
Care
If the endive flavor is a little strong for your taste, gather the outer leaves up and tie them loosely. This will blanch the hearts and make them mild and tender. The best time to blanch is two to three weeks before the harvest stage.
Pests
Endive has few insect problems, but snails and slugs can eat the foliage. Spread ashes around the plants and pick the pests off at night. Or scatter snail and slug bait around the base of plants, watering to activate the bait.
Harvesting
A single head of endive can make salads for a small family, or outer leaves can be pulled off without harming the plant. Any excess endive can be cooked. You can protect late maturing heads against freezing by mounding up soil or straw around them.
In containers
The curly leafed type is the most attractive. Sow a circle of seeds in a large tub or grow one plant per 8 inch pot.
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