What technique is he using - radicchio and mulch

[ottawagardener]

So I was talking to a friend whose father 'mulches' chicory and then harvests it this time of year from the open garden, ie. not under a coldframe. To give you a sense of this, he had some in his salad the other night and we've had three feet of snow, and double digits below zero Celcius. She told me that it is this technique but she doesn't really understand it because he told her that she shouldn't try it because it was complicated.

I must know... Building a clamp? What what???

[canadamike]

The same can be done with other veggies like carrots. Chicory is a very tough plant. He protects it from freezing., that's all there is to it as far as I know. If mices don't do damage, you're OK.

[ottawagardener]

So you think it is just straight forward mulching. I know about that.... but he said there was a technique, something special... ?

[grunt]

Michael Johnson, Or Rebsie can probably give a better description of a "clamp" than I can (it's an English term), but I use a version of it to store my potatoes and carrots for the winter. The last 4 photos in this album picasaweb.google.ca/TVgrunt/2007_0830#
show what I do.
Basically, dig a pit, put in what you want to store, cover with a good insulating layer of mulch, and put something over it to keep moisture from saturating the mulch. You can put something (a tarp, burlap, what ever) between your storage items (in my case potatoes) and the mulch if you like. I build my storage pit in a raised bed, but I live in an area that rarely sees temperatures below -25C (-13F), and I leave about 6" of soil on the sides of the pit. This would lend itself very well to storing his chicory, and blanche it at the same time.

[pjkobulnicky]

For a backyard gardener, I grow a lot of radicchio and Belgian Endive. It will work just to mulch it well and keep it both dark and from freezing. But, I suspect that you will not get nice radicchio or Belgian Endive heads this way. My garden wintered over stuff only gets by. To get good heads you need moderate temps for rapid growth ... not what you get at barely above freezing. Pull the roots and take them in the basement.

[ottawagardener]

That's what I normally do now pjkobulnicky but I was fascinated by what this lady said. Maybe her pa really does have a special technique. He's as we call it here 'from the old country' and sometimes they have maintained some pretty nifty gardening techniques and wisdom. Most importantly, they still grow backyard food. We have a man 'from the old country' on our block and he is always over my house on his dog walking rounds telling me that I planted this tree too close to another one or did I know I could use this plant for whatever.

All the more reason to listen to those not just from 'the old country' but all those who have been handed down precious and perishable knowledge. I have a collection of old gardening books which have taught me surprising tricks that I have never seen reprinted in the newer flashy picture laden modern versions.

I'll ask him. If it's something exciting, I'll report back.