CHIVES your garden’s best neighbour

CHIVES are one of the first plants in your garden to come up – even before the garden has dried out, and well before the cold is over, their bright, cheery green spears say “spring is around the corner” – the words I wait months to hear. They are the easiest herb to grow and are a valuable addition to every summer kitchen. They are low maintenance and high yield – my favourite combination.

No matter how much of a novice gardener you might be, CHIVES make every gardener look good. They are nature’s confidence builder. Simple to grow, drought and cold resistant, will tolerate too much rain, they thrive on neglect, and are very forgiving. They love sun, but will tolerate partial shade like the good sports they are. As perennials they grow back every spring. When other plants let you down, you can always count on CHIVES.

CHIVES have a light onion flavour, and their brilliant green hollow, grass-like leaves are are the perfect addition to salads, soups, sandwiches, baked potatoes, almost anything that calls for a mild onion flavour. Although its usually the leaves we eat, the entire plant is edible. That’s right, even the blossoms and the roots. Try adding the blossoms as garnish on the plate. Better yet, eat the blossom with your potato salad. The black seed which are hidden inside the ripe blossom have a wonderful peppery-oniony taste to sprinkle over top scrambled eggs, potato salad …. the sky’s the limit.

It is a well accepted garden fact that bees are attracted to the colour purple, so the vibrant purple blossoms of CHIVES is the perfect garden attraction for pollinators. I have my biggest chive plant as a centerpiece in my herb garden, but I also have it in a few other spots throughout the garden among perennial flowers and vegetables. Grow them in your vegetable garden as a friendly companion. They are great neighbours.

I cut the purple flowers throughout the season to add them to summer bouquets. My house is full of fresh bouquets from May through October. Chives are often in them.

Hint: the black seeds are IN the flower heads. If you don’t pick them, they’ll ripen – going to seed and drop to the ground. You will get a hundred little baby chives next year – which is alright as you can dig them up to eat the onion like bulbs. You will also have some to transplant to other areas, and plenty to give to friends. Cutting the flowers keeps the population under control.

Growing:

You can start CHIVES from seed, but why would you? Yes, they’re easy to start indoors in the spring for later planting, but how many plants do you want anyway? Or you can simply take a ripe flower head from a friend and sprinkle the seed in your summer or fall garden to start themselves next spring. That’s the way nature does it.

The most common way is to simply get a division from a friendly neighbour. Gently loosen the soil around the clump and pull away a smaller clump from the main plant.. The smaller cluster should have at least five to ten bulbs. Transplant this smaller plant into your desired location, or into pots to give away. Where I live they can’t be overwintered in pots, but you can try bringing them indoors. If you have a nice sunny window – you can use them all winter long.

Although they’ll grow in almost any soil conditions, CHIVES prefer good fertile well drained garden soil. As a special treat, work compost into the soil of new plants, or into the top soil around existing plants. They love the sun and will reward you abundantly if they get lots of it, but if sun is at a premium in your garden, partial shade is alright too.

Companion Gardening:

CHIVES are your garden’s Best neighbours. Plant them in your vegetable garden as your first line of defense (along with Marigolds). They repel carrot flies, aphids and cabbage worms (my mortal enemy). I sprinkle seed among my garden vegetables and let them grow at will. If there’s a spot I don’t want them for some reason, I’ll pull those up. Its not like you’re gonna run outta seed when nature keeps you abundantly supplied in those gorgeous round blossoms.

CHIVES don’t have much for natural enemies. They say aphids can be a problem sometimes, but I guess I’ve been lucky as its never been a problem for me. Their strong onion scent seems to deter pests. In a strawberry bed, their scent screens the sweet smell of the berries, deterring slugs and other pest that are attracted to the sweetness. Chives adds potassium and calcium to your soil through their dropped leaves, so let them grow, mature and die in your strawberry patch or vegetable garden. Add any discards to your compost pile, or better yet, leave them as mulch around the plants. Another benefit of growing chives in the strawberry bed is the mulch.

Remember that their purple flowers attract bees which is what you want more of in your strawberry and vegetable gardens. Pollinators of all kinds will be drawn by the purple flowers. Plant CHIVES among your other herbs, flowers, and among your vegetables especially your tomatoes, carrots and strawberries (yeah I know strawberries are not vegetables).

Chives in the Kitchen:

I cut a handful of CHIVES with a kitchen knife to bring into the kitchen just before I’m gonna put them on the table. Actually ‘I’ rarely do. LOL
Usually, just as I’m putting the final touches on dinner, I ask one of my kids or grandkids to go cut a handful of chives. Simply grab a handful and cut one or two inches above the soil. In the kitchen, pull the hard flower stems (put them in water as a cut flower) and brown leaves out and then either chop on a cutting board, or cut with scissors into little pieces about 1/2 centimeter long. Sprinkle over your mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, omelettes, salads, potato salad, stir fries, … limitless potential for use in your favourite dishes.

Once in awhile – if you’re not using them often enough, the plant gets too big and straggly with too many flowers going to seed. If that happens – when that happens, take a serrated kitchen knife and cut the whole thing down about two inches from the ground. Relax. It will grow back and give you another chance to stay on top of it. A good reason to have more than one plant. Sometimes your plant simply needs a little haircut. A gentle trim will do. Just to keep things tidy.

GARLIC CHIVES

Also known as Chinese leeks, garlic chives grow in the same areas of the garden as regular chives, and most of the information is completely transferable. The leaves are a little larger, longer and flat. The flowers are bigger than chive flowers, but more flat than globular. They attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. Full sun is best.

As with chives, the entire plant is edible, the roots are especially ‘garlicky’. The flavour has a distinct garlic overtone to the ‘oniony’ taste you’re already familiar with in chives. Use when you want that extra punch that garlic offers, like in soups, sauces, omelettes, and in all Asian dishes.