Moss curled endive was a treat vegetable when we were living in an apartment. I didn’t often see ones that looked appealing to buy, and they can be tough and bitter. In Sydney they tend to be sold with the outer leaves pulled back and tied together, so they look a bit odd and inside-out. These ones from the garden have been quiet achievers. I sowed them back at the end of May and they sat in their half-row, not doing much but surviving the dry weather well.
As with most of my first lot of veg, I didn’t thin them and consequently got a very dense patch of leaves that I would pick for salads. When I came to thin them I found that they were a dense row of rosettes, and much more advanced than I expected.
The variety is “moss curled’, from Eden Seeds. They sprout well, and happily I have another row coming, which this time I will thin and transplant. We have been having them as salad, but tonight they will go with ham in a pasta. The leaves hold up well to quick cooking.