*This seed is offered as part of the "Gusto Italiano Project", a collaborative partnership between Uprising Seeds, Italian breeders Smarties.Bio, and the Culinary Breeding Network. Certified organic seed is grown in Italy by Smarties.Bio.

Variety: 'Regina Rossa'
Type: Rosso di Treviso Precoce
Days to Maturity (slot): 90 days (early-mid)

(Cichorium intybus) Regina Rossa is the queen of the Smarties range of Treviso type varieties. An excellent selection for production: uniform, vigorous, and perfectly slotted for fall production.

The city of Treviso is one of the epicenters of radicchio production, and Rosso di Treviso Precoce is one of the best known types in Italy, second only to Rosso di Chioggia in terms of amount produced. "Precoce" means "early" in Italian and is used here to differentiate it from the late fall/winter forced-type, Treviso Tardivo. It is relatively unfussy to grow producing dense vertically elongated heads with wine-red leaves and wide contrasting white mid-ribs for fall harvests. It has the mildest bitterness of any of the red heading radicchio types, and though it is very much at home in a raw salad preparation, it is widely considered a type for sauteing, grilling, and roasting in Italy. Much of the plant's sweetness that compliments the bitterness is found in the midrib. As with all radicchio, be especially mindful of your planting dates as a successful crop requires a MUCH narrower planting window than most garden vegetables.

About the named varieties... For most vegetables, in order to provide a continuous harvest over a long period of time, growers stagger planting dates throughout the season which in turn provides a continuous harvest as the plants mature to eating stage. With radicchio, a different strategy is employed. For the most part, the majority of heading radicchio is best suited to seeding around the summer solstice (transplanting in the second-third week of July). To achieve a longer harvest period, rather than staggering planting dates, breeders have developed different varieties within a type with different days-to-maturity harvests. These are often referred to as "slots" with many types having early, mid, and late slotted varieties.

90 days from transplant

Packet: 100 seeds

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Growing Info

Please visit our Radicchiology page for radicchio growing info!

Radicchio (Rosso di Treviso Precoce), 'Regina Rossa'