Misticanza - All Chicory (93-2)

I tossed some of these in the ground last fall. By spring a variety of plants had taken hold. One plant, no idea what it is, became giant and produced all season long. Don't know what it was but it was delicious and just kept growing even through the heat and downpours. Only plant in my garden this past bad season that was not bothered by the weird weather.

I planted seed in Nov. (zone 7) and it is January and I have heads in a raised bed covered in 2 ML plastic. No damage-just beautiful heads.

I'm starting my third year using this mix. It contains a huge variety including my favorites and I like the convenience. The seed quantity is extremely generous and I've found that seeds germinate reliably the second year, something I haven't normally found to be the case with radicchio seeds from other U.S. seed suppliers.

I grow this both for salads and for full size plantings — here in zone 7 I get mostly salads in early spring and both baby leaf and mature harvests from fall/winter crops. My friends and customers especially like this mixed with two parts baby lettuce mix, one part baby arugula , one part radicchio mix.

Most years I harvest the mature plants through the winter. The first year that I tried this mix I let one bed bolt. There was a breathtaking show of vigorous and gorgeous foliage forms— some getting quite tall up to 5 feet while the shorter varieties sprawled around the feet. The blue blooms and the frowsy showy lower leaves were a crowd pleaser for all who visited. Some of the seed put forth self sowed and I re-harvested in September.

Never fear that you can't grow radicchios — this is, after all, a first cousin of dandelions. I'm sure it will grow—almost like weeds.