Easy to grow with a subtle onion flavour, chives are excellent culinary herb and are great cooked or applied raw as a garnish. As a garden companion they work well with strawberries, helping to develop sweeter tasting fruit, and when flowering will attract a diverse range of beneficial bugs into the patch.
The common chive variety, with tube shaped foliage produces tightly packed, lavender coloured flower heads, while garlic chives – with a flat leaf and mild garlic flavour – produce white flowers. Both are real chef’s treasures.
PLANTING
Plant seed 1cm deep, in small bunches (of roughly 10 seeds) every 20-30cm; chive seed like a little company amongst themselves. Keep moist, not wet, until the seeds have germinated which will take somewhere between 3-4 weeks, depending on the soil temperature.
WATERING
In ground: Water daily for the first 4 weeks and 3-4 times a week in the absence of rainfall thereafter.
In Pots: Water daily, in the absence of rainfall, for the entirety of the warm season, and then cut back to watering every second day during the cooler times of the year.
MAINTENANCE
Prepare soil with compost and slow-release all-round fertiliser and plant seedlings directly to the patch. Choose a planting time that is neither extremely hot or cold. Mulch with pea straw, lucerne hay or sugar cane mulch to a depth of 3–5cm
Feed monthly with liquid seaweed solution and at around the 4 week mark you can begin harvesting in moderation. Taking a more mature stem or two, or even a little haircut will help to stimulate growth.
During the warm months the plant will appreciate monthly haircuts, however as production slows and seed heads form with the cooler weather, only take what you require and allow the plants to rest.
HARVESTING
Use sharp scissors and snip the shoots from the base of the plant. Similarly, cut or pull the the flower stalks to prevent the plant from forming seeds and help encourage it to keep producing leaves.
Chives can be used fresh, dried or stored sealed and then frozen. It is however best used fresh, so only harvest however much you need.
TIP
When chives go to seed, pull out the flowers and hard stems on which they grow to free up energy for more production. Ensure that the flowers get used in the kitchen as they are a powerful culinary tool.
