Owen Pidgeon: How to grow chicory in ACT gardens

It is not often that you will have a visitor come from the other side of the world and tell you that they live in the heartland of production of a very specific product. At the moment we have Louise Plottet undertaking an organic agriculture internship at Loriendale. She comes from a small town near Lille called Orchies, in the north of France, and she is studying sustainable agriculture at the Supagro Institute in Montpellier, in the south of France.

The town of Orchies, just lying to the south east of Lille, hosts the Leroux chicory factory. Orchies is in the eastern part of the chicory production area of northern France which extends westwards to the famous towns of Calais, Dunkirk and St Omer.

Readers who lived through World War II or even during the post war years will remember the substitute coffee drink, called chicory. It is a good substitute for coffee as it is caffeine free and gluten free and when it is roasted, it has a distinctive caramel taste which is also slightly bitter.

The seeds of chicory are planted out in early spring and the crop is harvested in early autumn. The large root varieties of chicory have then been washed and cut to make cossettes. The cossettes are dried naturally on trays placed outside in the sunshine. They are then roasted at 150C then ground to produce a good coffee substitute. It had been cultivated in Europe in the Middle Ages for its medicinal powers. During the Napoleonic wars, the coastal blockades had a major impact on coffee and chicory supplies flowing between France and England. The shortage of available coffee led to a substantial increase in the chicory drink substitute. It is still a very popular beverage in northern France and Belgium.

Over time, gardeners have searched for varieties that can be grown more quickly. Witlof is the name usually applied to the quick-growing leafy headed plants. Radicchio is the red chicory variety that grows similar to lettuce. If you are growing any of the chicory family for its leaves, add plenty of finished compost and some long life pelletised organic fertilisers into the garden bed before planting the seeds. The plants need to be pushed along, with regular applications of liquid fertilisers and regular waterings. If you grow chicories too slowly, the bitterness in the leaves will become very pronounced.

Plant the seed of chicory, endive and raddichio out directly into the garden bed as the plants will grow a long taproot; they do not transplant very well. Sow only to a depth of 1.5 centimetres and allow 25 centimetres between rows. If you plant out seeds next winter for an early harvest, the seedling will need some protection, provided by covering with some straw or a small cloche cover.

6 heads of chicory
6 rashers bacon
80g butter
½ cup vegetable stock
1 tbs plain flour
Juice of 1 lemon
250g gruyere cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200C. Slice the chicory heads in half, lengthways. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and place the chicory heads in the pan and braise on both sides until they have browned. Transfer to an ovenproof dish, cut side up and season with salt and pepper. Cook the bacon rashers over medium heat until they are crisp, then lay them over the chicory.

In the fry pan, add the vegetable stock, flour and lemon juice to make a smooth sauce. Pour over the chicory heads and bacon. Cover with thin slices of the cheese and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the chicory is tender.

This week in the garden

* Plant out open leaf lettuces, mustard greens and radish. Plant out seedlings of spinach and the last of your late onion seedlings.

* Oregano, tarragon and chives are herbs that can be divided and replanted in late winter, if well established.

* Dig over any garden beds that have been lying fallow during the winter months. Add in good amounts of compost and well-rotted manures where you plan to plant early spring crops.

* Be on the lookout for seed potatoes. You can place them in a dry place with some indirect light, to allow shoots to begin growing before planting out in late September. Larger seed potatoes are best for getting a large sized crop over summer.

* Check any citrus trees for signs of scale and if required, spray with winter oil, repeating after one week.

Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard near Hall.