Cradle Hill farm from the chicory field - Seaford - 6 8 2022

I noticed this field of chicory for the first time a week ago while passing by in a friend's car. I decided I needed to go back and take some photos, as I hadn't seen a whole field full of the plants. As I took my snaps, I got into conversation with a dog-walker who said that they had been grown there in the previous two years as well. She didn't know that they were chicory. It seems that I was just in time to get a nice blue landscape, as she said that this was the end of the flowering season. I must remember to see if they plant the same crop next year and get some snaps when they are in full flower.
We were both puzzled by the differences between these plants and the vegetable that one can use in salads. That looks like a tight bud, the size of a small Romaine lettuce. Apparently when the flowers die down, the roots are dug up, the stalks are cut back to an inch or so and they are planted in pots and grown on in total darkness, resulting in the leaf buds used for salads etc.