Italian chicory & the Almafi Coast

We saw Sea Kale (Crambe maritima) along the coastal paths today, at least I think it was sea kale. A vegetable that I've seen only in Thomas Jefferson's vegetable garden at Monticello and in Old Salem, NC, it's a European native that looks like a very large leafy kale.

Of equal interest has been all the varieties of Italian chicory. I grow several (the groundhogs like them), and their bitter flavor makes an agreeable counterpoint to blander greens.

Bundles were displayed at a fruit and vegetable market in an Amalfi Coast town (Vietri del Mare); the grocer laughed when she saw my gardening companion taking a photo.

I'd look quite at home strolling here if it wasn't for my Keens!

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So when should I actually plant fall vegetables?

There's no dearth of advice about growing fall vegetables, but it's definitely a matter of figuring out your particular weather patterns, growing benefits and challenges, and thinking creatively about what to try (and sorting out what you read, and the location of the person who wrote it).

Our Southeastern U.S. Zone 7 (determined solely by frost dates) is quite different than Zone 7 in coastal Oregon, for example. And, different species need different lengths of time to mature before frost, and are affected by shortening days and cooler weather depending on the species (and cultivars), too.

a red-stemmed chicory looking unfazed by heat and drought

And, the recommendations of 'plant in mid-summer' or 'plant in late summer' are not terribly helpful when it's still 95° in the late afternoon. As a beginning vegetable gardener some years ago, I had the (very mistaken) notion that fall vegetables were planted in the fall.

In hot summer soils, trying to germinate seeds of cool-season vegetables such as carrots and lettuce often requires supplemental help in late summer (shading, damp straw, burlap, covering with boards). I've sprinkled ice cubes on the lettuce flats to help cool down the potting mix, following advice from an experienced local gardener. Carrot seeds are notoriously slow to germinate, in any case, as are some of the other species in the carrot family (parsnips and parsley come to mind). Wild species quite often have these stretched-out germination behaviors, and/or complex dormancy, partially as a response to optimize survival of seedlings.

An old way to germinate seeds that need cooler temperatures or that require perfect moisture balance is simply to start them indoors. Layering seeds in wet paper towels enclosed in a covered container provides a head start to triggering germination; the trick is to monitor them closely so at the first sign of young roots, you can transfer the sprouted seeds to prepared beds (before the root hairs attach to the paper towels). I suppose you could use a shallow layer of damp vermiculite or potting mix, too, but I haven't tried that.

What I've found most helpful are market-gardening publications (extension offices generally have good ones; I just printed out a succession planting chart that conveniently included space for your own notations about what you planted and when) and books (like Four-season Harvest by Elliot Coleman) that provide detailed information on different crops connected with frost dates, days to maturity, and recommendations for specific crops.

But there's always quite a bit of leeway, depending on how changeable one's fall weather patterns are, how late the first frost is in a given year, and climate change is now in the mix.

But, that's what makes it so fun to be a gardener.

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A trio of greens

I've been growing something called 'Italian dandelion' for some time. Actually, since it seems to be perennial, and has really deep roots, I can't actually dig it all out. It's quite attractive and tasty, if prepared by leaching out most of the bitter sesquiterpene lactones first! It does appear to be a selection of common dandelion, Taraxacum officinale; my plants came from seed ordered from The Cook's Garden.

There are lots of other chicories that are enjoyed in Italy and elsewhere, with a number of different species being eaten as a salad herb or vegetable.

I sowed a red-stemmed Catalogna chicory in early spring this year which has flourished. Radicchio, which has tall and heading varieties, are largely subspecies of Chicorium intybus.

Italian dandelion ~~~~~~Catalogna chicory ~~~~~~~Treviso radicchio
Here's a trio of greens to be part of dinner this evening, braised with olive oil and fresh garlic.

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