Garlic Chives

Allium tuberosum

COMMON NAMES

• Chinese Chives
• Garlic Chives
• Gow Choy
• Ku Ts'ai
• Nira
• Oriental Garlic

Chives, collected from the wild since antiquity and cultivated by gardeners since the Middle Ages, is a hardy, spreading, herbaceous perennial that grows to about 70 cm (28 inches) tall. Chives is native to northern North America and Eurasia. Garlic chives, a native of Asia, is not as winter-hardy as chives. Garlic chives grows about 50 cm (20 inches) tall, and makes a very pretty perennial border.
Chives has slim, dark green, hollow leaves that rise from thick tufts. Leaves have a delicate onion flavor and fragrance. Slender, white-sheathed bulbs develop in dense masses at the base of the plant, and thin roots emerge from the base of the bulbs.
Garlic chives' leaves are flat, solid, and paler green than those of chives, and taste and smell of mild garlic, with a sweetish undertone. Some types of garlic chives produce some bulbs, but many do not, or produce only small bulbs. Garlic chives spreads by means of rhizomes (underground stems), which are rather similar to the rhizomes of the common bearded iris. Roots emerge from the underside of these rhizomes.
Chives produces small, round clusters of rose-purple or mauve flowers at the end of a leafless stalk. Plants bloom in mid-spring. Garlic chives bloom in late summer, producing loose clusters of small, white, star- shaped florets.
Chives may be grown indoors for winter use. As garlic chives tends to go dormant during the winter, potting for indoor use is not recommended.
Flowers and leaves of both chives and garlic chives may be eaten, as may the bulbs of garlic chives.

USES

Chives was used in traditional folk medicine to treat intestinal parasites, enhance the immune system, stimulate digestion, and treat anemia.
In Chinese herbal medicine, garlic chives has long been used to treat fatigue, help control excessive bleeding, and as an antidote for ingested poisons. The leaves and bulbs are applied to insect bites, cuts, and wounds, while the seeds are used to treat kidney, liver, and digestive system problems.
Both chives and garlic chives are rich in vitamin C. Chives leaves are a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamin A. Garlic chives is high in carotene, thiamine, and riboflavin. Garlic chives is also rich in minerals, especially calcium and iron.
Culinary uses - Use tender, mild chives leaves to season cream cheese and butter, and in salads, soups, vegetables, sauces, egg dishes, meat and poultry, and seafood -especially salmon, caviar, and oysters.
Garnish salads, entrees, and hot and cold soups with a sprinkling of freshly snipped chives. (No bowl of vichyssoise is ready to serve without chives.)
When cooking with chives, add it to your dish during the last 5 to 10 minutes, as prolonged heat destroys the flavor.
Add leaves to vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.
Try the flowers in egg, cheese, and fish dishes, or use as a garnish. As the pungent flavor of an entire flower head can be overwhelming, break it into individual florets, and add discretely until you find your flavor tolerance level.
Use the leaves of garlic chives as you would those of chives, but expect a stronger, sharper flavor. When cooking with garlic chives, add just before serving, as the leaves lose flavor and become stringy if overcooked.
Garlic chives is a staple of Asian cooking. Only fresh leaves are used, and are typically fried with vegetables and meat. Garlic chives is essential for Japanese miso soup. Use the small bulbs of garlic chives as you would garlic, especially in recipes calling for a more delicate flavor than true garlic.
Eat garlic chives flower buds as you would those of chives. Flower stems may also be used for seasoning.
Chives is used commercially in soup mixes, salad dressings, savory dips, sour cream, and cottage cheese.
Craft uses - Include the purple pompoms of chives and the showy white flowers of garlic chives in summer bouquets of fresh flowers.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Chives and garlic chives grow in most soils, but both do best in well-drained, organic, fertile soil. Tolerated pH range for chives is 5.0 to 8.2; for garlic chives, the pH range is 4.5 to 8.3.
Both types grow best in full sun, but chives does tolerate light shade. Keep soil moist throughout the growing season. (Cut back on watering garlic chives during the first season to promote root growth.)
Chives and garlic chives are best started by dividing existing clumps. Divide in spring or fall.
Both types may also be grown from seed, which should be started indoors in fiber pots about 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Plant seeds to a depth of 6 mm (1/4 inch) or less. Seeds need darkness to germinate. Seedlings usually appear in 7 to 12 days. To establish a clump of chives quickly, transplant several seedlings together.
Chives and garlic chives can be grown as annuals, but they grow slowly and don't provide a large harvest the first year.
Space clumps of plants 30 cm (12 inches) apart.
Lift and divide established beds of chives every 3 years or so, as division prevents over-crowding and stops the central portion of the plants from dying out. Cut away flower stalks to prevent reseeding, and to maintain vigorous leaf growth.
Prune garlic chives' shoots back to within 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the ground if the plants become woody.
Generally pest-free, but susceptible to fungus diseases in overcrowded, soggy conditions.
Growing in containers - Chives are excellent container plants and are beautifully illustrated in Vincent van Gogh's 1887 oil painting Flowerpot with Chives (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) in which grassy spears sprout from a homely terracotta pot set on a kitchen table. The thick clump appears to have been just cut, perhaps for the noonday soup. Chives are happy in a pot with soft organic soil so long as they have a cool spot and regular water. Plants in pots dry out more quickly than in the soil, so it's necessary to check for moisture two or three times a week. Provide a mild fertilizer once a month and cut the chives frequently to keep fresh growth coming.
Keeping a pot of chives going indoors on the windowsill during winter is quite successful if the clump is first given a cold dormant period. In early September put a small clump, or a division of a larger clump, into a 5- or 6-inch (12 to 15 cm) pot and keep it watered. Let the pot stand outside until a killing frost nips the leaves, then cut the foliage down to about 2 inches (5 cm) and put the pot in an unsealed plastic bag, allowing the top to remain open for air circulation. The potted chives need 12 weeks in a cool, frost-free place, such as an unheated garage, outdoor cold frame, or indoor root cellar. Or it can be plunged into the ground and generously covered with leaves to prevent freezing. Late in December the pot can be brought to a bright windowsill where it will soon put up fresh green leaves. When grown indoors, chives will benefit from feeding every three weeks with a mild fertilizer.

SIDE EFFECTS AND CAUTIONS

Chives may cause dermatitis in some people.

COLLECTION AND HARVESTING

Pick chives any time during the growing season after the leaves are about 15 cm (6 inches) long. Pick only the leaves, as the flower stalks may be tough.
Harvest chives by hand, picking the leaves off at the base. Don't cut the leaves with scissors, as the resulting dieback has an unattractive brown edge.
Chives is best used fresh. Although the leaves can be frozen in ice cubes for later use, dried chives lack both color and flavor.
Pick chives flowers when they are just fully open.
Avoid harvesting garlic chives in the first year to enable the plant to develop a good root system. Thereafter, pick the leaves as required once they are about 15 cm (6 inches) long. Garlic chives leaves are very soft and quickly lose freshness. Like chives, they may be frozen, but should not be dried.
Pick the flower buds of garlic chives for fresh use or for drying. Flower stems are also edible.

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