Chives for Every Kitchen

Chives for Every Kitchen

The origin of chives is Mediterranean, they also grow at higher altitudes. They belong to the allium family (Latin: Allium schoenoprasum). Chives have been cultivated since the Middle Ages. They are very widespread in Czech gardens. This is a suitable and tasty herb that grows well in a pot by the window and enhances any dish. It is decorative even in summer when it blooms abundantly and adorns not only the vegetable bed.

Depending on the variety, it blooms from white to violet to dark purple. It is a perennial bulbous plant forming dark green, long, narrow, tubular leaves up to 30 cm long.

Chive Varieties:

• Fine - early variety with pleasant taste containing vitamin C
• Prague - highly productive variety with sharper taste, which has longer, dark green leaves, containing vitamin C
• Chinese - chives of taller growth 35-45 cm, has flat tops with garlic aroma, contains vitamin C
• Erecta - early, highly productive variety with more aromatic taste and suitable for growing in pots, contains vitamin C

Sowing and Growing Chives

Chives can be grown not only in the garden but also by the window in a planter or between windows in a pot. They are frost-resistant and we can grow and harvest them all year round. Chive seeds are black, small and shiny.

We plant chives in places where there is enough light. They require a sunny location or partial shade. The soil should be nutritious, humus-rich, calcareous. So-called warming positions.

We can pre-grow chives in a greenhouse or cold frame. For early harvest, we sow at the end of winter in a window box or in a cold frame and transplant to the bed at the end of spring.

Direct sowing is done in March to April in the bed. We can also pre-grow in a greenhouse. When sowing, we follow the procedure and sow chives shallowly, not too deep - shallow sowing. We can continue to propagate and sow chives until August. Chives should not be in the same place for more than 3 years. If planting multiple plants, we plant them in spacing of 40x40 cm, or in a row 15x40/60 cm. When transplanting, chives should grow to a height of 10 cm.

We water chives regularly. Once the chives grow, we start fertilizing, preferably with compost.

6 weeks after sowing we harvest several times until autumn. By then the chives should have 20-30 cm long, thin, tubular leaves. If we want a better quality harvest, tender and tasty leaves - we break off the chive inflorescences. The leaves are then less tough. With regular harvesting, chives regrow new leaves.

We do not cut chives too low above the ground to avoid damaging the growth centers. The firmer the bud of the chives, the better the taste. An open bud indicates overripeness.

We propagate chives either by sowing or by dividing older clumps.

October is the last month for lifting chive clumps from the bed and transplanting them into pots. After digging them out from the beds, transplant into a pot and leave in a cool place. When you need the herb in winter, bring it to light and provide sufficient watering.

Useful Herb

Chives serve not only as an ingredient in dishes, but with their beautiful purple spherical flowers, they create fast-growing borders for beds. The strong essential oils released by their flowers and roots prevent flowering perennials from being attacked by mildew and protect strawberry plants from mold. English gardeners claim that chives and garlic help against peach leaf curl, and when grown near roses, they protect them from black spot. Other types of garlic have similar effects.

Healthy Chives

Chives have high biological value, containing high levels of vitamin C, B, carotene, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron. Essential oils have a beneficial effect on supporting digestion and regulating blood pressure.

Chives in the Kitchen

Chives are suitable for cold cuisine: spreads, mayonnaise, on bread. Also in warm cuisine for seasoning mashed potatoes, roulades, herb marinades for grilled meat. They are not suitable for drying; it's better to freeze cut chives in portions – when thawed, they taste like freshly picked.