How to Grow Chives

Five reasons to grow chives.

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.

Chives, like most herbs, thrive in full sun in soil or containers with excellent drainage. They require less water than many plants as they have underground bulbs which help feed them. But if they are dry, please give them a drink. After the flowers are spent, I cut each flower stalk back, otherwise they become tough and ugly. In mid-summer when the leaves flop flat and turn yellow at the ends, I take a handful and cut them right back to the ground. After a few weeks new growth will have replaced them, and their flavor will be fresher.


And what about the long dark winter? See that handful of chives? Simply whizz them up in blender with a cup or two of good extra virgin olive oil. Strain, bottle, and refrigerate. You will have an electric green jar of summer waiting for you every time you open the fridge.

What you do with it, is up to you.