Palla Rossa radicchio

[Cutecumber]

I have managed to grow one whole Palla Rossa radicchio plant to, I think, maturity. Wahey!

It appears to have a reasonable heart and now I am considering when to harvest it and what to do with it.

Questions for you:

How long is it likely to stand?
Anyone done anything other than have it in salad or grill it?

What can have happened to my other plant? It was big and lush, heading well, but suddenly the middle went black and caved in. I haven't come across this before in other plants and wondered what it was. I thought something might have pooed on it, but perhaps not.

Over to you...

[veg4681]

Cutecumber,

Congrat on achieving your first fully developed radicchio. Don't mind growing that myself but conventional lettuce takes over the priority for meeting with salad needs when you have a small garden.

I wouldn't have thought you can do much else with the radicchio than as salad and perhaps grill it (never tried it). Isn't it a tiny bit bitter in taste or perhaps peppery is the right word? You might try cooking it like Chinese stir-fry with wonderful carrots, peppers, spring onion, baby corn with a dash of oyster sauce.