Peek Inside Elle Decor's March 2012 Issue
7 Ways To Smooth Wrinkles...Without An Iron
Chive flowers. Photo: Marie Viljoen
In my gardening life, whether it has been on windowsills, in the ground or on a terrace, I have never been without chives.
Here's why:
1. Chives are hardy. They will not die on you, no matter how horrid the winter. Come early spring, they will be peaking above the frigid ground.
2. Chives are delicious. They turn a boiled egg into an event, turn pale vichyssoise into a cool dream and bring a simple salad to life.
3. Chives grow fast! Snip them for dinner and after a week they will have grown enough to be snipped again.
4. Chives are healthy. Plants in the allium (onion) genus possess anti-everything properties: anti-bacterial, anti-viral, antic-carcinogenic.
5. Chive flowers are gorgeous. Their beautiful lilac pompoms make a stunning show in late spring. This is why I keep several plants. One for eating and two for flowers. The buds are delicious steamed, if you have enough. And that's not all: you can crumble the flowers into salads for an extra zing.
I rest my case.
Cutting chives back. Photo: Marie Viljoen
Chive bud. Photo: Marie Viljoen
What you do with it, is up to you.
Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)
So pretty!
ReplyChive oil! I never thought of that. Thanks for the tip...
You can also add chives to white vinegar to make chive vinegar.
You are right - chives are indestructible. When I lived in the city, I grew them on my terrace. At one point, they did major construction on the roof, and a great deal of debris went on to my terrace - I was on the next-to-top floor. Everything else I was growing was completely destroyed, but the chives poked their heads out, cheerful as could be, and kept on growing.
And they are delicious. That is a good idea with the olive oil.
Yes me too, thanks for the idea of the oil! I have had my chive plant
Replyfor 7 years now. It is the first thing to come up in the Spring. It
has more than tripled in size. More of a bush acually.
TO ALL THE MEGA GAZILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO HAVE GARDENS, AND THE TIME IN THESE TIMES TO GROW THINGS IN THEIR GARDENS...ISN'T THIS JUST SOOOOOO HELPFUL!.....TO THE DOZENS WHO DO NOT HAVE GARDENS AND DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO GROW ANYTHING....WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT WE THINK OF YOU!
ReplyIf you have olive oil and a blender you can buy chives at the supermarket, no gardening necessary!
You don't need time to grow chives. You need a pot, and a brain cell.
use the purple blossoms and a good white wine vinegar for a beautifully colored and delicately onion flavored vinegar. Remember to keep in dark bottles or at least out of sunlight or it will beach out. I know from experience. Soak the washed and dried blossoms in the vinegar. Strain after a couple of weeks, leave as is or add new blossoms. You have to time it right to get the blossoms at their best. Other herb vinegars are lovely, just use the herbs of your choice. Herbed oils are lovely too, but refrigerate them because they mold. Take out of fridge a little while before you want to use them. Great ideas for herbs are in the novels of Susan Wittig Albert with her herbalist heroine.
ReplyIt was not clear to me in the article where she says she has chives for cooking and chives for the flowers. Does this mean you cannot use the chives that flower for cooking? Or in reverse, that if you just want chives for cooking, you should cut off their flowers?
Thank you.
i agree with everything said, but here is a caution i learned the hard way. i was away from my home for quite awhile and the chives went to seed. now i have chives in all of my garden spaces where the wind scattered them. they are very hard to get rid of and are very invasive.
ReplyHow you can control the chives from spreading is plant them in a coffee can with the bottom taken off. The roots wont go that deep, so they stay put where you plant them!
ReplyBrilliant! Thank you.
All herb-infused oils are potentially hazardous, because the oil environment allows for easy growth of dangerous anaerobic bacteria such as botulism, often present in normal soils, even if refrigerated. At a minimum, wash the chives extra well, make the oil in very small batches, keep it refrigerated, and use it with a couple of days. For better guidance, do some serious research before making any infused oil intended for food use, starting for example with the following article:
Replyhttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/ext/pubs/herbalfoods.PDF
For those of you wary of self-seeding chives, look for sterile chives, now sold in many nurseries. They do not set seed.
ReplyI've been growing chives (as well as other herbs) for many years. Chives are easy to grow in just about any type of soil. Do not plant them next to plants you need to weed. Chives tend to expand over the years and will take over your garden. I cut them back after the first flowering. I sort out the grass that finds its way in and cut them down to small pieces and freeze in small baggies.. That way I can give them away or just have them on hand for baked potato's, or salads. I also use the flowers in potato salad. You can cook the garlic chive flowers as well. Try pan frying them with anything you would use garlic in. If you don't want them to propagate by the birds, I would definitly suggest cutting the flowers back before they go to seed. The wonderful birds have decorated my yard with new plants. Who knew?!!
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ReplyThank you ever so much for that article. I grow so many herbs, such as basil, lemon basil, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, etc. Never thought to grow chives. Did not know they made such gorgeous flowers. I will certainly grow them after reading that piece.
ReplyPeople everywhere find time to do whatever they really want to do.
ReplyI have taken the snipped chives and dehydrated them in the microwave and stored them dried. Not quite the fresh flavor but they tide me over for the winter.
ReplyI have also snipped them and put them in a baggie in the freezer. Amazing how well they hold up either way
YEAH I started to grow them last year in one of those sam club upside down planters but I used the top of the planter instead and I shook the seeds out across the soil. They came up like hair and I had so many I still have them. They go into our morning eggs and on our potatoes-this is what got me started. Now I have 7 planting boxes to grow my food above ground.P.S. You chopp them and freeze them if there are too many
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