My experimental design for the Chicory trial contains 2 replications with the 9 different varieties of radicchio, and a 3rd replication that only contains 7 of 9 varieties; each varietal block holds 7 plants per variety. When I had first seeded the radicchio trays, I was counting on having 5 complete replications but nearly half of the seedlings perished when they were moved into direct sunlight during a heatwave, without my knowledge. There is a lesson here, in the errors of miscommunication and I recognize that I should have clearly labeled the seed trays so that others didn’t have to wonder about their handling.

This is all to say that we only had enough seedlings for two full replications and a 3rd (transplanted Sept 6th) that was missing the varieties Bornio Tardivia and Marinanta.

Fall Update

I am fascinated by the vigor of these plants and how cold hearty they truly are. Ever through inclement weather such as heavy rains and cold nights, the radicchio march on. It has been exciting to watch their leaves begin to curl in on themselves and start to form their tell-tale, oblong head. Won’t be too long now before we have full and mature radicchio!

Winter Update

Winter has blown in

In wool socks, I welcome it

Cold fingers, rigid

These radicchio won’t do much in the way of growing over the next few months but it will be interesting to observe how they individually cope with the heavy rains and cold temperatures that undoubtedly await them.

Having had just enough time in the ground to establish themselves, these cold-hearty plants have a fighting chance to make it until spring!

Radicchio Tasting: Fall

One Rad Tasting

I got to host my first ever Radicchio tasting on Nov 18th with the Terroir/Meroir students. However, the format for this tasting was slightly different than the ones I have facilitated in the past. To start, this tasting took place in conjunction with the Evergreen Climate Academy Webinar series (more info here), and was co-hosted by Lane Selman of OSU and The Culinary Breeding Network. To fit this into the webinar, the students and I would have to have much back and forth but they would still have the opportunity to follow along with the tasting, having picked up samples from me of the Radicchio at hand.

I featured 2 radicchio types, grown by Calliope Farm and by me at my farm space, as well as a prepared salad that incorporated all 5 taste sensations into the salad (recipe in the tasting form).

First Variety is a Chioggia type of radicchio called Sirio – seeds purchased from Osborne Seed Company:

The second variety is a Treviso Precoce type radicchio by the name of Baldo, also purchased from Osborne Seed Company.

The students were asked to follow along to my tasting of the varieties and to fill out the tasting sheet that I will attach below.

As you can see in the form, the students were asked to assess the flavor and to give an subjective rating for each radicchio. To take the evaluation of the radicchio even further, the students were asked to begin interpreting the differences in flavor and to begin building vocabulary that may be included in the description of various radicchio, much like the ‘squash wheel’ that was created by the Culinary Breeding Network.