Growing Chives - How to Grow Chives

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Growing Chives - How to Grow Chives

Monday, October 19th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you are one that enjoys the taste of onions with your meals, you’ll definitely like the experience of growing chives. The word chive means onion in Latin This useful herb is a perennial plant so you can enjoy chives all year. A good thing about chives, as well as their durability, is the fact that any part of the plant can be used.

Chives are one of the discoveries Marco Polo brought back from his travels to China. The herb has been grown and used over there 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. Chives are known to grow in most parts of the world, in the wild. Not hard to please, the plant can tolerate most soil types, and produce in partial shade or full sunlight.

Growing chives for decorative use in the garden can have a very aesthetically pleasing effect. Plant in well draining, rich soil, ensure plenty of sunlight, and you’ll soon notice the purple color weaving it’s way throughout the garden. And then, after only three months of growth, the herb is ready to eat, and add it’s delicate flavor to your favorite meals.

Growing chives Tips:

It is relatively simple when growing chives. 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 splitting the bulbs of existing plants and replanting. The herb plants should be planted about nine inches apart.

Growing chives indoors or outside-

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 to the end quality (This is like a plant’s graduation.). Chives prefer moist soil, although be careful not to over water. Start the chive seedlings with basic potting soil in empty egg cartons. 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. Plant the chives seeds in rows at least 12″ apart. You’ll notice that when the seeds begin to sprout, they’ll look like blades of grass – try not to mow them… The same goes with weeding, careful you don’t yank out the wrong plants!

Growing Chives and Their Benefits

Chives are chocked full of healthy vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A & C. Growing chives has another hidden benefit to your garden – it acts as a natural insect and pest repellent, keeping the nasties away from your other prized plants too.

Growing chives is an ideal decorative edging for a flowerbed. When you first see the purple tips of chives, they can now be clipped, ready for use for meals.

The bulbs can be pulled up and used like onions for their subtle flavor. Simply chop the chive bulbs and use as you would small green onions.

To accelerate new growth of leaves, snip off the flower heads. When growing chives for seasoning, wait until the leaves have grown about three inches. When it comes to this, trim the leaf down until there is half-inch left. 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 from salads to meat. Add chives to the top of soups for a little extra flavor. A well known favorite is sour cream with chives as a tasty dip. Spuds and chives are a tasty combination. This herb sprinkled on a baked potato always hits the spot. Add chives to mashed potatoes for an extra kick in flavor.

Another decorative idea is to put the herb on a kitchen window. 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.

Enjoy the experience of having the convenience of fresh chives to hand, whenever you need it.