Growing Chives
In Your Country Garden

Growing chives is easy and they multiply fairly quickly. Chives are an essential addition to any culinary herb garden and are often used as edging plants. They like a sunny spot with partial shade for hot afternoons. Chives die back in the winter, and return again in the spring, making them on of my perennial favorites!

Chives are a perennial herb also known as, Allium schoenoprasum. This small, slender member of the onion family has distinctive, hollow upright leaves which are finely chopped and added to soups, stews, Asian dishes and salads. The pretty purple flowers can also be sprinkled in a salad or other dish to add its familiar oniony flavor.

Planting Chives is Easy

Planting From Seed

Planting chives from seed or from dividing a larger clump is easy to do. Seeds can be started indoors or out in a little bit of moist, well-drained soil.

Place the seeds at about 1/4 inch into the soil and cover them lightly. Water them well. Soon you will see tiny little green tendrils reach from the soil. If you are planting them indoors, they do best in a dark spot at approximately 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit until they sprout. Once they peek through the soil, they need to be moved to a nice bright area.

When chives are 6 inches tall, they are ready to transplant into the garden.

If you are starting your seeds outdoors, wait until all danger of frost has passed for your area. They may take a little longer to sprout depending on the outside temperatures.

Planting From Divisions

If you are planting divisions, you'll find you get many readymade clumps of chives. Do your dividing in early spring or mid fall.

Take an established clump and gently dig it up. Pull a smaller clump away from the larger plant. Small clumps should contain at least 5 or more bulbs in it. Transplant it to its new location and you're all set.

Harvesting Chives Takes Just a Snip

Harvesting chives is easy. Simply take a scissors or kitchen shears and snip off 2 to 3 inches. Chop up your harvest and use them at once.

Once the flowers are dry and begin to die back, you can trim the entire plant down to 2 to 3 inches high. This helps rejuvenate the plant and new growth will begin all over again. Your growing chives will need to be divided again in three or four years.

How to Dry Chives

Well, chives can be dried like any other herb so you have a supply to use during the winter.

Spread the harvested leaves and flowers on the racks of a dehydrator and follow the manufacturer's instructions. They should dry quickly.

Alternatively, you can dry them in the oven on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels on a low heat or spread them on a screen and set them out in the sun.

Store your dried chives in an airtight container to keep them fresh. A jar or ziplock bag works well. Keep them out of direct light or they will fade. Once dried herbs fade, they lose their nutrients and flavor.

Try Raising Your Own Chives!

Chives provide visual beauty in my perennial flower garden with their lovely purple, spiked blooms which last for weeks. They continue to work hard by adding versatile flavor to the foods we enjoy during the summer months.

You will find growing chives to be easy, rewarding AND tasty!

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