Page 21 - Book-TradiAliCulture-Belgium
P. 21
How are the endives cultivated?
The large scale production of endives includes two steps :
The seed, sown in the spring, produces a creeping plant with tuberous root
and long green leaves. Those roots-tubers are harvested in October and sheltered in
a dry and dark area before their forcing.
For the forcing, each root is transplanted in a
“pit” (20 cm deep hole under which there is a
heating mean), then covered with soil and straw
under a microporous sheet.
At a temperature of about 20°C, the root in
field production (traditional method) or most often
nowadays in a dark room, delivers after 3-4
weeks a cream white to light yellow bud with tight
leaves that will be harvested: the endive.
By transplanting those roots at different
times, you can get a crop of endives from winter
to spring.
Endives grown inside are not washed after
harvesting, because they don’t have any contact
with soil.
www.erasmus-isj-namur
