What is Chicory?

Chicory grows throughout Europe in fields, hedgerows and on the roadside. In Englandand Wales it settles happily on lime rich soils, although it is rarely found in Scotland and Ireland. In Aralia and America it has been naturalized and is found on roadsides and field edges.

Chicory was an important medicinal herb, vegetable and salad plant in ancient Egypt, and in Greek and Roman times. Among the many delightful folk tales about the blue flowers we hear that the flowers are the transformed eyes of a lass weeping for her lover's ship, which never returned. Another from German folklore says that a young girl who could not stop weeping for her dead lover by the side of the road was turned into a flower called wegwort (chicory).

Careful English wives grew chicory among their herbs. It was good for purging and for the bladder. It was a principle of white magic that water distilled from the round blue flowers worked against inflammation and dimness of sight.

Chicory was grown in floral clocks because of the regular opening and closing of its flowers - they open to the sun and close about five hours later - and some gardeners, who have noticed that chicory leaves always align with North, credit the herb with metaphysical significance.

Since the 17th century dried, roasted and ground roots of chicory have been used to make a drink. Two centuries later, Dickens described in his magazine Household Words the extensive cultivation of chicory in England as a coffee substitute.

Species

Cichorium intybus

Chicory

Hardy perennial. Ht lm (3ft), spread 30cm (1ft). Clear blue flowers from midsummer to mid-autumn. Leaves mid-green, hairy underneath, and coarsely toothed.

Among the many varieties of chicory are:

Magdeburg or Brunswick

The best for producing roots which can be used as a coffee substitute.

Pain de Sucre (Sugar Loaf)

Looks like lettuce and can be used in the same way. Does not require blanching.

Red Verona

Crimson red foliage, good in salads.

Witloof (Brussels chicory)

This is the one grown for the chicons.

Cultivation

Propagation

Seeds

Sow the small seed thinly, either in spring or late summer in prepared pots, plug or seed trays, and cover with Perlite. For rapid germination (7-10 days), sow when freshest, in late summer. Winter the young plants under cover in a cold greenhouse, or on a cold windowsill. Plant these young plants out in the spring, 45cm (18in) apart. The seed can also be sown direct into the garden in spring.

Pests and Diseases

Fairly trouble free; keep an eye out for earwigs in the chicons.

Maintenance

Spring: Sow seed under protection for herb garden. Prepare site for outside sowing for chitons.

Summer: Sow seeds in situ for chicons.

Autumn: Dig up roots for forcing, also dig up and dry for coffee. Cut back flowers of plants in herb garden.

Winter: Dig in manure or compost where next year's chicon crop is to be grown.

Garden Cultivation

Seed

Grows easily. Sow in a sunny and open site with a light, preferably alkaline, soil. If you plan to harvest the roots prepare the site well, digging deeply. Thin the seedlings to 15-20cm (6-8in) distance apart in mid- to late summer. Transplant if necessary in the spring remembering that chicory grows fairly tall and looks well at the back of a border or against a fence, and needs to get the early morning sun as its flowers open at sunrise.

Harvest

Roots can be dug up through out the summer, but are usually left until autumn. Lift the root. Shorten to 20cm (8in). Remove all side shoots and leaves, and stack in dry sand in the dark. Dry roots for coffee substitute. Gather leaves when young for fresh use. Pick before flowering for drying. Collect flowers in early summer either fresh or to dry.

Container growing

As Chicory grows so tall it is not ideally suited to container growing.

Chicons

These are produced by forcing the roots in warmth and darkness, which blanches the new growth.

Prepare the soil, choosing a part of the garden that is rich in manure and well cultivated. Do not plant in recently manured land because this can cause forking in the roots.

In June sow the seeds. If you sow too early the plants may run to seed in the warm weather. Sow in 1cm (½ in) drills, 30cm (12in) apart. Thin the seedlings.

Keep the area well watered in dry weather and weed free.

In late autumn, early winter begin carefully to dig up a few roots for forcing, Cut off the tops just above the crown. Plant the roots close together in a box of loamy soil with the crowns of the roots at soil level. Water and cover with another box. These chicons must remain in total darkness if they are not to become bitter. Put the box where the temperature does not go below 10°C (50°F).

In 4-6 weeks the chicons will be 15-20cm (6-8in) long and ready to harvest. If you break the chicons off carefully, instead of cutting, a second crop will appear. They will be smaller and looser but just as tasty.

The whole process can be repeated. When the remaining plants have died back dig up the roots, trim, and store in sand in a frost proof room, and force as required. One word of warning: do not pick the chicons before you need them because even after an hour in the light they will become limp.

Medicinal

Chicory, like dandelion, is a gentle but effective, bitter tonic, which increases the flow of bile. It is also a specific remedy for gall stones, and for this reason Galen called it 'friend of the liver'. Like dandelion it has diuretic properties and can be used for treating rheumatism and gout, because it eliminates uric acid from the body.

The roots, in the form of syrup or succory, make an excellent laxative for children.

Other uses

Boil the leaves to produce a blue dye. Grow crop for animal fodder.

Culinary

Add young leaves and flowers to summer salads, use forced leaves as a winter salad. Toss chicons in salads, or braise in butter as a vegetable dish.

Roasted chicory roots are still widely used as an excellent substitute or adulterant for coffee. Wash, slice and dry in gentle heat. Roast and grind.

When young the root can be dug up, boiled and served with a sauce.