Growing Endive

Endive closely resembles lettuce in its requirements, except that it is less sensitive to heat. It may be substituted for lettuce when growing lettuce is impracticable. In the South, it is mainly a winter crop. In the North, it is grown in spring, summer, and autumn and is also forced in winter. Broadleaved endive is known on the markets as escarole.

Endive is a cool-weather green with a distinct, clean, sharp taste. You'll find it in the produce bins of most stores, but it's expensive. It doesn't like hot weather too well, but it can take some pretty hard frosts. So it's a good winter green down South where the temperatures are mild. In the North it's grown as a spring or fall crop only.

Grow it from seed planted in your garden four to six weeks before the average date of last frost. Long, hot summers will force the plant to seed. Plant the seeds directly in the garden, keeping the soil moist until they come up.

For a spring crop, plant seeds in the garden two to four weeks before the last frost-free date. Start fall crops about 15 weeks before the expected date of the first fall frost. Plant in wide rows and thin later to six to seven inches between plants. You can start endive in flats indoors like head lettuce and transplant it later if you want.

Like other greens, endive tastes best when it grows quickly and steadily. Make sure it gets enough water and fertilizer. The soil should be kept moist by using compost or mulching with grass clippings during the hottest time of the summer.

To reduce the bitterness of endive, cut off the light to the heads, or "blanch" them, right out in the garden about a week before harvesting them. The time from planting to harvest is 90 to 100 days from seed. To harvest gather the leaves of the plant and tie them together above the head or cut the tops and bottoms out of milk cartons and slip these homemade blanching tubes over the plants.

For winter use, lift the plants with a ball or earth, place them in a cellar or coldframe where they will not freeze, and tie and blanch them as needed.