How to Grow Chives

This herb is a perennial herb meaning you have the full benefit of enjoying chives every year. Chives are handy being that you can use any part of them within your cooking if you desire. 

Chives were mainly first used in China, although the Flavor of the Chinese chive is slightly different than the usual everyday Chive being that it has a slight garlic scent to it. However, in general, chives grow wild all over the world. This herb is not hard to please and can be grown in many different soils and also different levels of sunlight. 

Growing Tips

Growing chives is a very simple process and can be done from seed or plant. They are best grown by separating the bulbs of existing plants and basically re-planting with a small distance (usually 10 inches) apart.

Indoors or Outdoors?

Chives are good in that they can be grown indoors and outdoors after a general germination. Make sure the soil they are grown in is moist and be sure not to over water. If you want you could start them in very small pots or cartons and when they sprout several inches, they can be moved to bigger pots or even moved to the outside.

There are many health benefits of eating Chives as they have many Vitamins including A and C as well as minerals. They also help out your garden landscape by keeping away bugs such as apple scab and plant lice.

Chives within recipes

Fresh chives go well with almost all dishes such as salads and meats. What most people know is that it is best friends with sour cream for the famous dip. They also go well with potatoes. Mix them with all salads or even add to sandwiches.

All You Need To Know About How To Grow Chives

Chives are one of the easiest herbs to grow and one of the tastiest. Chives can be added to any meal that onions are used in and they are healthy too! Part of the onion family, chives is the smallest member and there are a few different types of chives from which to choose. For those that are new to gardening and would like to know How To Grow Chives, this is for you.

The entire chive plant is edible. The flowers can be used as edible garnish and add a lovely colour to a salad bowl. The leaves are grass like and lovely in mashed potatoes, sauces and salads. Garlic chives are great for times when you have run out of garlic and need to whip up a meal that requires garlic. Simply chop up the bulb and there you have your garlic.

Chives thrive in sun, but need a bit of shade in the long, hot summer months. Moist, well-drained soil is best but they do tolerate drought conditions well too.

Chive seeds can be planted in pots early on in the year and kept warm and moist until the seedlings are ready to be planted outside in the garden. The soil that you plant it out in should be well dug up with organic compost. Be sure to keep the soil weed free.

Chives can even be grown inside your home in a pot. When the flowers start dying back, you can cut the plant down. Cutting the plant to two or three inches high will help it to grow again. Chives usually grow to approximately 45 centimetres in height with a beautiful round purple flower.

When you want to use your chives, you should use scissors to cut them, leaving the leave 2 or 3 inches long.

After 3 to 4 years, the plant should be divided into smaller bunches and replanted. After gently digging the plant up, separate the clumps of bulbs and plant back into fertile soil. If your chives die during winter, do not worry, as it will come back in spring.

Whilst chives are best used fresh, they can be stored too. You could dry the flower stalks by hanging it upside down or on racks in a warm, airy and dry place. Alternatively, you could freeze the chopped chives.

Chives have a high vitamin C content. They also aid digestion and prevent cold and flu.

In horticulture, chives help to prevent aphids. Aphids are little herbivorous insects that are more commonly known as plant lice. Planting chives amongst your most treasured bulbs will help keep them save from aphids without having to use harmful pesticides. This results in a more organic garden.

Now that you know How To Grow Chives you should consider the type of chive that you wish to grow. There are two types of chives: the onion chive or the garlic chive, otherwise known as Chinese chive. If you do not like eating chives, you may wish to choose them to compliment your landscaping and to keep insects away from your prized plants.

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