Growing and cooking Italian leaves in the UK
Foglia is Italian for leaf. This site is a plain guide to growing Italian salad and leaf crops in British gardens, allotments, balconies and windowsills, and to cooking them well.
Why grow Italian leaves?
Many of the leaves at the heart of Italian cooking grow well in the UK climate. Rocket can be picked within a few weeks of sowing. Radicchio and chicory are bitter-sweet crops ready from late summer into autumn, with forced chicons in winter. Cavolo nero, the dark Tuscan kale, is a kale crop picked from autumn through winter. Basil and parsley are herbs you will use every day. Fresh from the garden, they cost a fraction of the supermarket price and taste far better.
Most are easy, and several suit pots and window boxes. You do not need an allotment.
The crops
- Rocket is the quickest, ready in about four to six weeks.
- Radicchio and chicory are sown in summer for autumn heads and bring colour and bitterness to the table.
- Cavolo nero is a hardy winter crop that suits most gardens.
- Basil loves warmth and is best sown indoors, then moved outside in summer.
- Parsley, the flat-leaved Italian type, is slow to start but gives cuttings for many months.
Plan before you sow
The most useful tool is the sowing calendar. It sets out when to sow each crop in a typical UK year. Timing varies with where you live: Cornwall is milder than the Scottish Highlands, and a south-facing walled garden is warmer than an exposed hillside. Treat the months as a guide, and adjust for your weather.
Basic needs
- Light: Most of these crops like sun, though the RHS suggests moving rocket to shade in hot spells to delay flowering.
- Soil: A moisture-retaining, fertile, well-drained soil. Add well-rotted compost before sowing.
- Water: Steady moisture. Dry spells make leaves bitter and encourage bolting (running to seed).
- Pests: Slugs, snails, pigeons and caterpillars on brassicas such as kale. Netting and regular checking solve most problems.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) publishes reliable growing advice for each of these crops, and we link to it on each page.
Pots and small spaces
You can grow every crop here in containers. Rocket, basil and parsley do especially well in pots on a sunny windowsill or balcony. Our container guide explains compost, pot size and watering.
From plot to plate
Growing is half the pleasure. The cooking ideas page turns your harvest into simple Italian-style dishes: wilted greens, grilled radicchio, cavolo nero with beans, pesto and more.
Honest expectations
Not every sowing will succeed. Slugs eat seedlings, summer heat can make lettuce and rocket bolt, and a cold spring can delay basil. Sow a little often and you will always have something to pick.
Questions or corrections? Use the contact page.
Soil and preparation
Good preparation saves trouble later. Dig over or fork the bed, remove perennial weeds and mix in well-rotted compost or garden compost a few weeks before sowing. Rake to a fine surface for small seeds like rocket and chicory. Cavolo nero prefers firmer soil, so avoid digging in the spring just before planting. If your soil is heavy clay, raised beds or large containers make life easier. If it is sandy, add plenty of organic matter to hold moisture.
Wildlife-friendly growing
You do not need chemicals to grow these crops. Encourage ladybirds, hoverflies and birds, which eat aphids and caterpillars, by leaving some flowering plants. Rocket and chicory flowers attract pollinators if you let a few plants run to seed. Use mesh and hand-picking before turning to pesticides, and always follow the label if you use any.
Saving seed and money
Parsley, rocket and chicory are easy to save seed from, so one packet can last many seasons. Swap seeds with neighbours or allotment friends, and look for local seed swaps in spring.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest Italian leaf to grow?
Rocket. The RHS says you can start picking about four to six weeks after sowing.
Can I grow these in pots?
Yes. Rocket, basil, parsley, chicory and kale can all be grown in pots of the sizes the RHS suggests. See the container guide.
When should I start sowing?
Rocket can go outdoors from April (or indoors from February), basil indoors from March, and radicchio and chicory in the late spring and summer. See the sowing calendar.