A mysterious herb that changes its appearance as it grows!
Misha: We’ll try growing chicory this time!
Hachibee: Chicory? What a cute name.
Misha: Not only is the name cute, but it also blooms cute blue flowers that you can harvest cute leafy vegetables from.
Hachibee: It’s an herb, but it also produces beautiful flowers and you can harvest vegetables from them, so it’s pretty cost-effective.
Misha: It has a unique bitter taste, and apparently the components in it are effective against arteriosclerosis, blood sugar levels, and diabetes.
Hachibee: It seems to have lots of good things to do! I wonder what it’s like?
Misha: Let’s try growing it right away!
Chicory “Almost Weekly” Cultivation Report
9/17 Planting
Hachibee: These are chicory seeds. They look like tiny brown rice.
9/24 Germination
Hachibee: It’s growing straight and vertical. I guess it’s because of his straightforward personality.
10/1 The first leaves open
Hachibee: What a cute leaf.
10/8 The number of cotyledons increases
Hachibee: Chicory doesn’t have two leaves.
10/15 The leaves become four
Hachibee: It has four cotyledons. That’s rare.
10/22 True leaves appear
Hachibee: The fifth leaf is a slightly different shape.
10/29 The leaves grow larger
Hachibee: Suddenly, the leaves have grown huge.
11/5 The buds start to grow
Hachibee: By the way, the leaves are quite wide.
11/12 The leaves begin to grow
Hachibee: The leaves are piling up and it’s getting crammed in!
11/19 Leaves increase in volume
Hachibee: You’re starting to have a strong presence.
11/26 The center of the plant will become rolled up.
Hachibee: The middle of the plant is starting to look like a roll cake.
12/3 The center of the plant becomes slightly higher.
Hachibee: It’s starting to look a bit like a vegetable.
12/10 The roll in the center of the plant begins to swell.
Hachibee: It’s getting quite cold, but the volume of stocks is increasing.
Misha: Chicory is resistant to the cold.
12/17 Growth slows
Misha: With the cold weather, it looks like you’re going to have to take a break.
Hachibee: But even though it’s cold, the leaves are still very green.
12/24 Leaves grow slowly
Hachibee: Maybe it’s because it’s getting cold. Merry Christmas.
12/31 Wintering begins
Hachibee: I guess it’s gone into hibernation?
1/14 Hibernating
Hachibee: It’s the coldest day! But the leaves are still lush and green.
2/4 Fighting the cold
Hachibee: The cold wind is blowing! The chicory leaves are sticking tightly to the ground and enduring the cold!
2/18 The leaves are slightly withered
Hachibee: Wow, it’s cold! The chicory leaves are starting to wither and look like they have frostbite.
Misha: This is the most difficult part.
3/3 Growth resumes
Hachibee: Leaves are starting to sprout from the middle of the plant!
Misha: It seems that around March, all the energy that had been building up over the winter finally came out in a burst.
3/24 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: It feels like the leaves are much wider and bigger than before hibernation!
Misha: And the roll in the middle of the plant has gotten particularly large.
3/31 Heads begin to form
Hachibee: It looks like the roll in the middle of the plant is clearly starting to form a head!
4/7 The head becomes larger
Hachibee: It’s starting to get really bushy.
Misha: The green leaves look soft and delicious. But it’s amazing that there are hardly any insect bites, probably because of the bitterness that’s unique to chicory.
4/14 Stocks rise
Hachibee: I’m starting to lose track of what’s going on!
Misha: The leaves are really growing (laughs). But it’s clear that the head is starting to grow.
4/21 Head volume at maximum ~ harvest
Hachibee: Whoa! Before I knew it, I had made something this impressive!
Misha: The chicory we grew this time is called the bell-heart type, which is a type that looks like a slightly smaller Chinese cabbage. Its unique bitter taste goes great with stews and gratins.
4/28 The stem begins to grow
Misha: Now that the harvest is over, let’s see how the chicory plant blooms and produces seeds.
Hachibee: Something’s suddenly started growing!
5/12 茎がぐんぐん伸びる
Hachibee: Wow, what incredible growth! Until last week I thought it looked like Chinese cabbage, but this week it suddenly looked like a sunflower! It’s hard to believe they’re the same plant.
5/26 Buds begin to form
ハチベエ：そしていきなりつぼみができたのか・・・展開がすごく早いな！
Misha: And the leaves that were so big and voluminous up until now have now transformed into small, wedge-shaped leaves. It’s hard to believe it’s the same plant.
6/2 Flower stalks stretch towards the sky
Hachibee: That’s amazing! By the way, it has grown to a height of over 1 meter.
Misha: And the buds are starting to open.
6/9 Bloom
Hachibee: Oh! It’s blooming!
Misha: Beautiful purple flowers.
6/16 start blooming all at once
Hachibee: When chicory blooms, they all bloom at once.
Misha: The color is lovely, but the shape is also lovely. It’s a very elegant flower.
6/30 End of flower
Hachibee: It ends pretty quickly.
7/7 Seed clusters begin to form
Hachibee: After the flowers bloom, the calyx closes and becomes a seed cluster.
7/14 Seeds are produced
Hachibee: What on earth is going on inside?
Misha: The stems suddenly started growing rapidly, then flowers bloomed and seeds were produced…it’s pretty busy.
7/21 Seed clusters ripen
Hachibee: It turns black with a whoosh and then it’s time to drop the seeds.
Misha: But the stems are still green at this time.
8/11 The seeds start to fall
Hachibee: They’re starting to drop seeds. But some bunches are withered and brown, others are still green, so each bunch seems to be working separately.
9/1 Everything starts to wither little by little
Hachibee: The speed at which they grow, or rather the timing at which they die, really varies from bunch to bunch. And they’re kind of like machine parts. I love how hard they feel.
9/8 Seed Harvesting
Hachibee: Finally, the stalks wither and the chicory is finished. Good job!
Misha: I harvested a lot of those little brown rice-like seeds. Sometimes they turn into leafy vegetables, sometimes they suddenly turn into sunflowers, sometimes they bloom into elegant purple flowers. Chicory is so versatile. I had a lot of fun.
Tips for growing chicory:
Difficulty of cultivation：★★☆☆☆
At first it looks like a leafy vegetable
After a while it grows a thick tower and looks like a sunflower
Finally it becomes a forest of countless flowers
Harvest early before the tower grows
It is resistant to cold, strong and produces many seeds
Chicory is recommended for beginners
