How to grow Chinese or Garlic Chives Allium Tuberosum
Garlic Chives must be one of the easiest Herbs that we can grow in the garden and it always surprises me is that they are not grown far more as they have lots of culinary benefits and they can give you a great garlic flavour but they’re not as pungent or as strong as a garlic clove. They are evergreen in most gardens and are pretty enough to mixed in amongst your flowers.
Situation
Chinese Chives are really low maintenance and once they are established they couldn’t be easier to grow seeming to thrive on neglect. Chinese Chives like a rich moist soil but well-drained so adding some well rotted compost or some very well rotted manure into the soil before planting them is a great idea as they will grow quite happily for a number of years. What’s interesting is that they will tolerate much poorer soil and although they do like a sunny position, they will tolerate some shade.If you dont have the space they are quite happy in a 3litre or above pot with a good compost but long toms or deeper pots do suit it better
Cultivation
You can grow them from seed which you should start in the spring or you can buy small plants but I would advise to plant in odd numbers as it makes for a more aesthetically pleasing display. Once established you can increase or reinvigorate your Chinese Chives by splitting. Divide them about every three years, normally in spring before they start back into to growth is the best time. They can grow to about 30 to 60cms (12/ 24 inches) and should be planted roughly 15 to 30 cms apart, watering them well in. Keep them well watered and giving them a high potash feed like comfrey is absolutely perfect and to be honest that’s really all you need to do to them. If you cover them early in the Spring with a cloche this will give you earlier harvests.
Harvesting
When it comes to harvesting and eating you can cut leaves down to within about 7 1/2 cm (3inches) – you can cut it shorter but I’ve always found that left slightly longer the plant is much quicker to recover. If using small amounts just snip it off as you would Chives. To get the best flavour in the leaves you need to remove the flower buds, but you can eat the buds themselves and the more of these you remove and eat the more will be produced. You can also eat the flowers, you get harvests off these once in the early Summer and if you take of all flower buds then you actually get a second flush of flower buds much later in the Autumn. To get the best flavour from the Chinese Chives themselves, you need to cut off the flower buds, but they are such pretty flower buds and the flower buds themselves have a stronger flavour than the leaves so I do not cut off the flower buds.
How to Use
You can use them exactly the same should use your normal chives and they are fantastic in omelettes, added to cream cheese and bring really interesting flavour eggs and seafood. The fully open blossoms added raw salads look absolutely stunning but the flowers when the open are much stronger more spicy than the leaves so test first. Chives are great source of Vitamin C. I’ve read that if you plant close to Peach trees they can help with peach leaf curl and also if you plant close to roses the scent of the Rose becomes stronger. You can also make a spray using the Chinese Chives which can be used to prevent potato blight but I’ve actually never ever tried this.
One thing I do know is that eating them is good for digestion and can certainly settle you stomach.
A real positive they are an absolute excellent attractor and a source of food for bees and all sorts of other beneficial insects
So, in conclusion, to be brutally honest there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t have two or three of these fantastic multipurpose and incredibly easy plants in your garden somewhere!
Heres some growing in a Raised bed kitchen garden
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