Growing Chives in Your Herb Garden

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on May 1, 1986
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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Chives are good for you! They are mildly antibiotic and contain high concentrations of vitamins A and C, with measurable amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine and niacin.

Whether you garden many acres or grow a few herbs in a window box, you should reserve a little space for growing chives. Allium schoenoprasum, the smallest and mildest-tasting member of the onion family, was well-established in Chinese cuisine as far back as 3000 B.C., and was also popular in Egyptian and Roman dishes.

Growing Chives in the Herb Garden

Unlike its cousin the onion, the chive is not raised for its bulbs, but for its 8- to 12-inch, hollow, spear-like leaves. Snipped into small pieces, they add flavor to stews, casseroles, egg dishes, soups (they’re a must for vichyssoise), potatoes (sour cream and chives are the topping for baked potatoes), salads, salad dressings and dips. They can also be combined with other herbs for making herb butters, sauce verte and tartar sauce.

For chive butter, whip two tablespoons of fresh, chopped chives into a pound of room-temperature butter, refrigerate, and then serve on hot breads or potatoes. To make chive salt, add the herb to noniodized salt. Remove the leaves after several weeks, and use the flavored salt on meats and vegetables.

Chives are good for you, too. They are mildly antibiotic and contain high concentrations of vitamins A and C, with measurable amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine and niacin. Herbalists have used them for centuries to tone the stomach, reduce high blood pressure and strengthen the kidneys. Chives were even used by Romanian gypsies to tell fortunes, and clumps of the herb were hung from bedposts and ceilings to drive away evil spirits.

These perennials are also quite pretty. Mauve-pink, globular flowers appear in profusion from early to late summer, making growing chives perfect for garden borders and knot gardens. However, so few plants are needed to provide for a family’s culinary needs that many people grow chives in pots. And if you are growing them strictly for food rather than for decoration, nip the flowers before they bloom. In fact, chives will grow thicker if they’re picked often.

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