6 Best Chicory Seeds For Market Gardens Old Farmers Swear By

Most market gardeners see the first frost as the beginning of the end, but seasoned growers see it as an opportunity. While others are pulling up the last of their tomatoes, smart farmers are just starting to harvest their most profitable fall crop. That secret weapon is chicory, a diverse and resilient family of greens that thrives when the weather turns cold.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Why Chicory is a Market Gardener’s Secret Crop

Chicory isn’t just one plant; it’s a whole category of high-value fall and winter vegetables. This group includes everything from the bitter, red-leafed radicchio to the mild, tender heads of escarole and the frilly, delicate frisée. Their real advantage is timing. They mature in the cool weather of autumn, filling a perfect niche after summer crops have faded.

This late-season availability makes them a premium item at farmers markets and a favorite of chefs looking for local ingredients year-round. Customers who are tired of kale and chard are often excited to try something new, especially when it’s beautiful. The vibrant colors of a Palla Rossa or the speckled leaves of a Castelfranco add serious visual appeal to a market stand.

More importantly, chicories are tough. Many varieties can withstand light frosts, and some even improve in flavor after a cold snap. This resilience means less crop loss and a more reliable income stream during a notoriously unpredictable time of year. For a small-scale grower, having a dependable harvest in November is a game-changer.

Palla Rossa Mavrik: The Classic Round Radicchio

When someone says "radicchio," this is what they picture. Palla Rossa Mavrik is a reliable, uniform variety that produces dense, wine-red heads with a sharp, pleasing bitterness. It’s the workhorse of the radicchio world for a reason.

Its main strength is its predictability. If you time your planting for a fall harvest, Mavrik delivers consistent, baseball-sized heads that are easy to sell. They hold up well after harvest, giving you a good window to get them to market. This is the variety to grow if you want to supply restaurants that need a steady, familiar product for their salads and grills.

The key to success with Palla Rossa is timing. Plant it too early, and summer heat will cause it to bolt. It needs the cooling days and nights of late summer and early fall to trigger head formation. Get the timing right, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful, marketable crop that stores well into the early winter.

Variegata di Castelfranco: A Gourmet Speckled Head

Castelfranco is the showstopper of the chicory family. It forms a loose, open head that looks more like a rose than a lettuce, with creamy, pale green leaves speckled in gorgeous splashes of red and purple. This is the chicory you grow to capture the attention of high-end chefs and foodie customers.

Because of its stunning appearance and milder, less bitter flavor, Castelfranco commands a premium price. It’s often sold by the head rather than by the pound. It’s a true "value-add" crop that can elevate your entire market display. Use it as a centerpiece to draw customers to your table.

The tradeoff for its beauty is that it’s a bit more delicate than its tougher cousins. The open heads don’t store as long as a dense Palla Rossa, and they require more careful handling to prevent bruising. Think of it as a specialty crop—grow a little to test your market, and be prepared to treat it like the gourmet product it is.

Indigo Treviso: Best Chicory for Grilling Whole

Indigo Treviso offers a completely different shape and culinary use. This variety grows into an upright, elongated head, like a tightly wrapped romaine heart but with a stunning deep red color. Its spear-like shape makes it absolutely perfect for grilling or roasting whole or halved.

This is a major selling point. You can market it specifically as a "grilling chicory," giving customers a clear idea of how to use it. Its leaves are sturdy and hold up well to heat, mellowing in flavor and becoming wonderfully tender. For market gardeners, having a product with such a clear purpose makes sales much easier.

Like other red chicories, Treviso needs cool weather to develop its best color and flavor. There are "early" (precoce) and "late" (tardivo) types. For most small farms, the early types are the most practical choice, as they form heads in the field without the complex, labor-intensive process of forcing that the tardivo varieties require.

Zuckerhut Sugarloaf: A Mild, High-Yielding Choice

If you’re looking for a "gateway chicory" for skeptical customers, Zuckerhut is it. Also known as Sugarloaf, this variety forms a tall, dense, pale green head that looks like a giant, swaddled romaine. Its flavor is exceptionally mild, with just a hint of bitterness on the finish.

Zuckerhut’s greatest asset is its productivity. The heads get large and heavy, giving you a lot of marketable weight from a small area. It’s also quite cold-tolerant and relatively easy to grow. This is the perfect variety for bulking up your fall CSA boxes or for selling to customers who are new to the world of chicories.

While it doesn’t have the flashy colors of a radicchio, its versatility is a strong selling point. It can be shredded raw into salads for a crunchy, refreshing bite, or it can be braised, grilled, or added to soups. It’s a reliable, high-yielding staple that provides a solid foundation for a fall greens program.

Natacha Escarole: Cold-Hardy and Versatile Star

Though technically an endive, escarole is grown and sold alongside chicories, and Natacha is a standout variety. It forms a large, heavy, spreading head of broad, wavy leaves with a dense, blanched heart. This is one of the most cold-hardy greens you can grow.

Natacha is a true multi-purpose crop. The outer green leaves are robust and slightly bitter, perfect for classic Italian wedding soup or for braising with beans and garlic. The inner leaves are pale, tender, and sweet, making a fantastic base for a winter salad. This versatility gives you multiple ways to market a single product.

Its resilience is its defining feature. Natacha can handle repeated light frosts, often surviving in the field long after other greens have given up. This makes it an invaluable crop for extending your market season deep into the late fall and early winter, providing fresh greens when they are scarcest and most valuable.

Riccia Pancalieri: The Ultimate Frisée for Salads

For that classic French bistro salad, you need frisée, and Riccia Pancalieri is a top-tier choice. This variety produces a large, dense head of finely cut, frilly leaves. The result is a texture that is unmatched—crisp, airy, and perfect for catching vinaigrette.

The real art of growing frisée lies in blanching. About a week or two before harvest, the outer leaves are gathered up and tied, shielding the heart from sunlight. This turns the inner leaves a creamy yellow-white and makes them incredibly tender and mild. This simple technique transforms a standard green into a gourmet product that fetches a high price.

Like Castelfranco, frisée is more delicate than other chicories. It needs to be harvested and handled with care to avoid damage. It’s not a crop for shipping long distances, which makes it a perfect niche for local market gardeners who can deliver a superior, fresh product.

Selecting Chicory Seeds for Your Farm’s Climate

There is no single "best" chicory; there is only the best chicory for your farm, your market, and your climate. The most important factor is timing. Most chicories are day-length sensitive and will bolt in the heat, so they are almost always grown for a fall or winter harvest. Check the "days to maturity" on the seed packet and count backward from your average first frost date to determine your ideal planting window.

For your first time, don’t try to grow all six. A smart strategy is to start with three distinct types to see what works for you and what your customers prefer.

• A workhorse: Start with a reliable ball radicchio like Palla Rossa Mavrik or a high-yielding mild type like Zuckerhut.
• A specialty item: Add a visually stunning variety like Variegata di Castelfranco or a culinary star like Indigo Treviso to test the high-end market.
• A cold-hardy staple: Include an escarole like Natacha to ensure you have something to sell late into the season.

Pay close attention to variety descriptions. Some are bred for specific climates or planting windows. By choosing a few complementary varieties, you can stagger your harvests, diversify your offerings, and discover which chicories are the most profitable secret weapons for your farm.

Ultimately, growing chicory is a strategic move that separates the casual gardener from the serious market farmer. It’s about extending your season, diversifying your income, and offering something unique and valuable when everyone else’s fields are bare. Choose your seeds wisely, time your planting carefully, and you’ll unlock one of the most rewarding crops of the season.