Chives have a place in your garden, whether you have an herb or vegetable garden, or just a flower bed. They are truly the easiest herb to grow and they are perennial, coming back year after year.
Chives are one of the first plants to poke through the soil in spring. They grow from bulbs that look like little onions. At first they appear to be a clump of very healthy looking dark green grass, about 6-10 inches tall. In early June they develop beautiful pale purple clover-like flowers atop some of the stems.
All parts of the chive plant are edible. They have an onion-like flavor and are used in salads, soups, cheese and egg dishes, in sandwiches and sprinkled atop vegetables. The mild-flavored leaves are the part most commonly used, but the tiny bulbs can be used as you would other onions. The bulbs can also be pickled. The flowers decorate a salad prettily when fully opened. When in the bud stage, they have a very strong, almost hot, onion flavor that adds a zip to whatever dish they are part of.
Chives grow best in full sun with rich soil and plentiful water. Like many plants, however, they will grow just about anywhere, except deep shade. They grow in slowly expanding clumps and are easy to divide or move in early spring by cutting through the plant with a shovel or sharp knife, allowing at least ten bulbs per new clump.
Chives are harvested by cutting with a scissors about two inches above the soil line. They can be harvested when the leaves are at least six inches tall and will quickly regrow. After flowering, cut the spent flower stalks off to encourage the plant to continue growing. For the most part, chives keep their neat appearance throughout the year and are rarely bothered by pests.
Although chive flowers can be dried for decorative use, the leaves themselves do not dry well, so to preserve them for year-round culinary use, they should be frozen.
To enjoy chives earlier in spring, dig up a clump in fall and place it in a pot. Keep the container outdoors for several months so the tops die back and the roots freeze. They need this dormant period before they send out new growth. In late February or early March, bring the pot indoors and place it on a sunny windowsill. In a few weeks the plants will sprout and you’ll have chives before the rest of clump outdoors even thinks about starting to grow.
Leave a Reply