Endive is a compact, lettuce-like plant, available in an attractive range of colours and shapes, from bright green and frilly, to rounded and red.

Sow seed thinly direct outside or in a pot on the windowsill or in a greenhouse at 3 to 4 weekly intervals for regular harvests throughout the year. When sowing outdoors, sow seed 5mm deep, in drills 30cm apart. Thin seedlings to 25cm apart, or leave unthinned as baby salad leaves. For indoor sowing thin to 2 seedlings per 9cm pot. Keep the soil moist, watering in dry spells, to ensure consistent growth and prevent plants running to seed (bolting) prematurely. Give shade in hot weather, to prevent the leaves becoming tough and unpalatable. Cover with fleece or make summer sowings in a spot that gets some light shade.

Harvest either as cut and come again salad leaves or mature heads. As leaves harvest from 6-8 weeks, mature heads are slower growing and larger, taking around 10-12 weeks to mature. Endive with large, flat, broad leaves are more robust, so useful for winter harvesting, whereas those with a loose rosette of thin, frilly leaves tend to be more tolerant of hot weather.