Growing Chives – How to Grow Chives
If you are one that enjoys the flavor of onions with your meals, you’ll definitely like the experience of growing chives. ‘Chive’ does actually mean onion in Latin! The herb lasts throughout the year, so you can enjoy the chives in any season. Chives are a hardy plant and there are uses for every part of the herb.
It is not widely known, but chives were brought back by Marco Polo after his venture to China. The Chinese have been cultivating chives for their cuisine for hundreds of years. The chive that the Chinese use is slightly different to the herb we know and love, and possesses a hint of garlic. The herb grows wild in most parts of the world. Easy to look after, the herb is not fussy over particular soil types, and are suitable in sunlight or half-shade.
Growing chives in direct sunlight and rich, well-drained soil produces healthy plants to dress up any herb garden with their purple tops. From planting time to harvest, you can have fresh chives on your dinner plate within three months.
Growing chives Tips:
Growing chives is relatively easy. Either buy ‘ready-grown’ chive plants from the nursery, or brave it out and grow your own from seed. Chives, Allium schoenoprasum, are best grown by separating the bulbs of existing plants and replanting. A distance of around 9” should be maintained between each plant.
How your growing chives can be placed inside, or planted outdoors-
As mentioned, one of the benefits to growing herbs is its ‘hardiness’ – and for this reason, after germination it can be placed indoors or out, without much difference in end quality (A little bit like the plant graduating). Moist soil is better, but it cannot be too wet. An idea would be to place the tiny seedlings in potting soil, placed in egg cartons (empty ones of course!). You will transplant the herb into larger containers after it has sprouted a few inches.
If you’d prefer the chives to be outside, use well prepared, good quality soil. Seeds should be planted in rows with about a foot distance between. When the chives sprout, they resemble blades of grass Keep chives weeded but watch out you do not pull the wrong plant!
Benefits of growing chives-
Chives have high levels of vitamin A and C and essential minerals. Another good thing benefit to growing chives in your garden, it helps keep away undesirable seedy characters such as plant lice, apple scab, and mildew.
Flower beds can benefit from the decorative aspect of growing chives. When the chive’s purple flowers begin to appear, select a few chive clumps to use for garnish.
The bulbs can be pulled up and used like onions for their subtle flavor. The bulbs can also be chopped the same way as small onions.
Trim off flower heads to allow for vigorous new growth of leaves. However, leaves should be about 3” long before clipping for garnish. Select a leaf and trim it down to about an inch. Repeat this until you have enough fresh chives for the dish you are preparing.
Recipes used after growing chives:
Fresh chives go well with a variety of dishes like salads or meat. Soups perk up when you add chives on top. Chives mixed with sour cream makes a delicious dip. How about chives with butter on spuds? Yum. Try sprinkling over ‘just-cooked’ baked potatoes, or mix with mash for a little kick in taste.
This helpful herb is never out of place on a kitchen windowsill. As you now know, growing chives is really no trouble at all. It takes up almost no space, and has little to no waste, as the entire plant can be eaten.
Have fresh chives on hand when you need a dash of the flavorful herb.
