Cichorium intybus 'Wild Chicory'

Asteraceae: branched perennial with stiff, grooved stems to 1.5m. Grows in bare, grassy places and typically on calcareous soils, often seen on roadside verges. The flowers are 3-4cm across, and an eye catching sky blue, opening only in the morning and sunny weather, flowers from June-September. Locally common only in Sothern England. Native to Europe, including Britain, from Scandinavia south and east to North Africa and Western Asia.

USES:

The leaves are eaten raw or cooked, the leaves are rather bitter, especially when the plants are flowering. The leaves are often blanched by excluding light, either by removing all the leaves and then earthing up the new growth, or by covering the plant with a bucket or something similar. Whilst this greatly reduces any bitterness, there is also a corresponding loss of vitamins and minerals. The blanched leaves are often used in winter salads (they are known as chicons) and are also cooked. The unblanched leaves are much less bitter in winter and make an excellent addition to salads at this time of year. The roasted root is used as a caffeine-free coffee adulterant or substitute, the young roots have a slightly bitter caramel flavour when roasted.

Chicory has a long history of herbal use and is especially of great value for its tonic affect upon the liver and digestive tract. The root and the leaves have appetizer, cholagogue, depurative, digestive, diuretic, hypoglycaemic, laxative and tonic properties.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Sow the seeds of the wild form being grown for their roots in May or June in situ. Cultivars being grown for their edible leaves can be sown in April for a summer crop or in June/July for a winter crop. Sow them in situ or in pots and then plant them out as soon as they are large enough.

HARVESTED: 

 
APPROX. 300+ SEEDS