Gadenin日本語Get the appJudging a heading type by feel, not by size
A heading chicory is ready when the heart is firm under a squeeze, not when the plant looks big. Outer leaves can sprawl impressively over a heart that is still loose and open, and a loose heart cut early is thin, papery and much more bitter than the same plant two weeks later. Put a hand over the top and press gently: a ready head resists like a small firm cabbage.
Color is the second signal, and only for red heading types. Through warm weather they stay a dull green flushed with dirty red, and the change to a clear deep red comes with cold nights. A red type that has not colored has not had enough cold, and will taste correspondingly rough.
Timing is worth being patient about. Chicory holds in the ground once it is ready, and it improves in cold weather rather than deteriorating. The moment to stop waiting is when the head starts to feel soft in one spot, or after a forecast of a hard freeze below about 20F (minus 7C).
| Type | Ready when | How to cut | Holds in the ground |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red heading types | Heart firm and color has turned deep | Knife through the stem just above soil level | Several weeks in cold weather |
| Tall green heading types | Head firm from top to bottom, 8 inches (20 cm) or more | Cut low, leaving the stump | Two to three weeks, watch for rot |
| Loose-leaf cutting types | Leaves 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) | Cut the whole rosette an inch (2.5 cm) above the crown | Regrows, so cut repeatedly |
| Forced chicons | 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) tall and tight | Snap or cut just above the crown | Not applicable, cut on sight |
Cutting so the plant gives you a second crop
Where you put the knife decides whether that plant is finished. Cut a heading type through the stem just above soil level and leave the stump in place, and in mild autumn weather it often pushes out a rosette of small loose leaves within a few weeks. They are not a second head, but they are good in a salad and they cost nothing.
Loose-leaf types are grown for exactly this. Cut the whole rosette about an inch (2.5 cm) above the crown, leaving the growing point untouched, and they regrow three or four times over a season. Cut too low and you take the crown with the leaves and the plant is done; cut too high and you are left with a stubble of leaf bases that go slimy.
- Harvest dry Cut on a dry day, or at least wait until the dew has gone. Chicory cut wet goes slimy at the cut face within a day or two, however carefully you store it.
- Use a sharp knife, not a tug Pulling tears the crown and leaves ragged tissue that rots. One clean cut across the stem is what you want.
- Leave the outer leaves on Do not strip a head back to the clean heart in the garden. Those outer leaves protect it in storage; take them off in the kitchen.
- Cut chicons with a twist Hold the root, take the chicon at its base and twist it off, or slice just above the crown. Leave the crown intact and the root will often make a second one.
The cost of leaving it too long
Chicory is more forgiving than lettuce about a late harvest, but there are two real losses. In prolonged wet the heart of a heading type rots from the inside while the outside still looks perfect, and you find out only when you cut it. And after a hard freeze the leaves collapse into a translucent mush on thawing, which no amount of trimming recovers.
Forcing types are different: leaving the root in the ground too long past several frosts is not a flavor problem but a lifting problem, because cold sodden ground makes it far harder to get a whole taproot out unbroken. A broken root will still force, but it forces poorly.
Chicons are the one part of the crop that genuinely will not wait. Left in the box past 6 inches (15 cm) they keep extending, go loose, hollow and noticeably more bitter, and the outer leaves start to open. A week's inattention undoes a month of forcing.
Note the date of each head cut alongside its sowing date. Over two seasons the sowing-to-cutting interval for your own garden becomes a reliable number, and it is far more useful than any figure on a seed packet.
Keeping chicory after cutting
Heading chicory keeps two to three weeks in a fridge if it goes in dry with its outer leaves on and loosely wrapped so it does not dehydrate. Do not wash it before storing. Water sitting between the leaves is what starts the slime, and a head that was cut in the rain rarely lasts a week.
Chicons need one extra thing: darkness. Left on a bright kitchen counter they green up within a day or two and become markedly more bitter, undoing the entire point of forcing them. Wrap them in paper or keep them in a closed drawer, and they hold their pale color and stay crisp for about two weeks.
Cut leaves from loose-leaf types keep the worst. Treat them like salad leaves: use them within a few days, and if they have gone limp, a spell in cold water for half an hour brings the crispness back before they hit the plate.