growing

Growing Radicchio Adds Color to Your Garden

DanThis Land of Ours, Vegetables

growing
Fresh organic Radicchio Lettuce, ready for eating and cooking

Cathy Isom tells you how to add a little colorful pop to your garden by growing your own Radicchio. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Growing Radicchio Adds Color to Your Garden

Radicchio is a common and pretty vegetable used widely throughout Italy.  Growing Radicchio in your garden adds a pop of vibrant color as well as a rich flavor to your dinner table. It can also save you some money since Radicchio in the grocery store can be pricey.

Radicchio is Old World chicory with wine-red leaves and a white center. Despite its appearance, it’s not related to cabbage. It has a tangy flavor that adds a pungent, deliciously bitter note to your dishes. You can eat the entire head, but some people prefer the center of the plant over the outer leaves.

Many people don’t know that this is a frost-tolerant vegetable because they associate it with a warm climate. You can grow it as you would cabbage, and cooler weather makes it a bit sweeter!  Radicchio seeds can be directly sown into your garden starting in the early spring 2-3 weeks before the final frost of the season. Or, wow in late summer for a fall harvest.

I’m Cathy Isom…