How to successfully grow chives

Closely related to chives, onions and shallots, chives are grown for their aromatic leaves and bulb . Just two or three clumps of this easy-to-grow plant are enough to provide for a family. With a milder flavor than garlic and onions, chives are very popular in Asian cuisine . Undemanding and quite hardy, they thrive in pots or in the ground in vegetable and herb gardens, but also in borders and ornamental beds . They form beautiful, dense clumps and the flowers are lovely. If the winter is not too harsh, they keep their leaves and can therefore be harvested throughout the season.

The ancestor of the spring onion is Allium altaicum, a wild lily domesticated in China and growing wild in Mongolia. The particularity of many lily plants is that they have a very similar morphology, even between two different species. It was therefore quite difficult until the first half of the Middle Ages to know exactly which of the two was cultivated: spring onion, chives, or even garlic and wild leeks. We do know, however, that it was one of the plants recommended for cultivation in royal domains by Charlemagne in the capitulary De Villis*. Today, it is found in dishes all over the world, although it is more common in Asian cuisine.

The term "chives" comes from the Occitan "cibola", itself from the Latin "caepulla", a diminutive of "caepa" which means "onion".

The taste of chives is reminiscent of onion, but much finer, more delicate, with a slight hint of garlic.

Chives are said to have antiseptic and digestive properties. Like all Alliaceae, chives are rich in antioxidant compounds (vitamin C, flavonoids), mineral salts, and B vitamins.

As the leaves are very rich in vitamin C, pilgrims on the Way of St. James used them to combat scurvy (a gum infection caused by vitamin C deficiency, which can lead to death).

Evergreen nebuca chives, red toga chives, winter nest chives.

• Difficulty level : 1/3
• Density : 25 to 35 plants/m².
• Life cycle : Perennial.
• Weight per 1000 seeds : Approximately 2.1 to 4.7 grams.

• Climate zone and hardiness : Chives adapt to all French climates.
  
• Soil type : Fresh, humus-rich, well-worked soil.
• pH : Neutral or slightly acidic.
• Moisture : Well-drained soil.
• Exposure : Sunny or partial shade.
• Frost resistance : Chives can still be grown in winter if the winter is relatively mild and they receive enough light. If they don't like the winter conditions, they will "disappear" and then "reappear" in the spring.

• Transplanting : When the potted plants begin to grow and appear strong, transplant them into the ground 20 cm apart in all directions.
• Watering :
  • Frequency: Regular watering.
  • Quantity: Moderate watering.
  • Period: In open ground, water during the first month of cultivation and in case of drought. In pots, water throughout the cultivation when the soil appears dry.
• Tools : Watering can.
• Hoeing / weeding / ridging / mulching It is recommended to mulch* upon installation and to renew the mulch* each year.
• Harvest period : 2 or 3 months after sowing, then every year all year round except during harsh winters, from May to October.
• Part of the plant : The bulbs, stems and petals of the chive flowers are eaten.

It is advisable to cut the flowers as soon as they appear to avoid tiring the chive plants. In addition, remove the dry stems from each plant in March of each year.

• Directions: You can freeze or dry chives, but they will lose their flavor and are always better fresh.
• Duration: Frozen or dried chives can be stored for several months, but fresh, they will only keep for 2 or 3 days.

• Culinary : Everything about the chive is edible: the pseudobulbs, the stems, and the flowers. The aroma is reminiscent of onions, but much finer and more delicate, with a slight hint of garlic. The white part of the chive is used like onions. The flower petals enhance salads. The green part of the stems is used raw to flavor raw vegetables, salads, sauces, or white meat.
  

Chives are a honey plant, so they will attract pollinators to the garden, including bees, which can be very beneficial to other vegetable species that depend on them.