What Are Chives – Chive Varieties – Harvest Chives – When To Harvest Chives – Storing Fresh Chives – Preserving Chives – FAQ
Chives are one of the best perennial herbs to have at home. it will grow back rather quickly after being harvested from. The plant can grow in a number of different environments and still be able to flourish.
Below we are sharing some of the methods we have developed during the years of growing this fantastic herb.
What Are Chives
Chives are a very nice culinary herb that has a nice spicy garlic flavor to it. It’s not that common among gardeners, which is a shame since it’s so easy to keep and care for.
Chives are a perennial plant that comes in different varieties. But the most common one will grow dark greens that eventually start budding and flowers into a pink color.
Once you cut down the plant, it will continue growing back almost immediately. Often growing in a large bundle it’s very efficient at providing a large harvest from small amounts of land planted.
Chive Varieties
There are some different varieties of chives out there but there is one winner that stands at the top of popularity, that one being the common chive. Growing dark green with pink flowers, it’s a staple for some gardeners.
But there are some other varieties worth mentioning too. Below is a short list of some of our favorites.
- Chinese Chives
- Blue Chives
- Hookers Chives
How To Harvest Chives
Harvesting chives is very easy. We need first and foremost a very sharp scissor. This is important because we want to clip the chives off and not leave a bruised area. It will make the regrowing quicker and more efficient.
Hold a bundle of the chive plant with your hand and then cut it off. It’s super quick and easy to harvest large amounts of chives. But make sure you have a plant for them as well. There is a big difference between fresh chives and those lying in the fridge for one day. The fresh one has a bite to them and the flavor is so much better.
Since the chive plant is so hard, you can just lay off harvesting too much and instead leave it for another time when you might need to instead.
When Should You Harvest Chives
The best time to harvest chives is before it starts flowering, that is if you want stalks of course. This time will mostly be during the spring and early summer. If you hold off on harvesting then you will quickly notice that the plant starts flowering. Then the flower will be stronger in the flowers instead of the stalks.
Water the soil a little bit after harvesting large amounts to help the plant regrow more quickly. Since we can’t really move the plant, then this is the best we can do to aid the plant.
How To Store Fresh Chives
After you have harvested chives it’s important that we store it the right way to help it stay fresher for longer. We recommend you take the chives and place them in an air-tight container with some paper in the bottom.
Leave that box in the fridge.It will keep the temperature down obviously, making it harder for bacteria to start growing on the herbs. Kept like this they will stay good for at least 1 week before beginning to wilt a little bit.
How To Preserve Chives
There are many ways you could go about preserving chives for the long term. Some of the ones we are doing at home are either drying it or freezing it. They stay nice and green with both methods.
How To Freeze Chives
Freezing chives might be the easiest. Just take a scissor and cut down the stalks into more manageable pieces and then freeze them in a container. That way you can just scrape out the amount that you might need.
How To Dry Chives
Drying chives is a lot more time consuming. It’s because we need to thinly slice the chives before drying them. We do this to prevent any chewiness when they are later used. Thinly slice the chives and lay them flat on a tray with some paper. Dry them in the oven at a low temperature for about 6 – 8 hours in total.
FAQ
How Do You Pick Chives So It Keeps Growing
There really isn’t any specific technique for picking chives to promote growth. Just clip them off as close to the soil as possible. That way you will continue having long and beautiful stalks growing from it.
Do Chives Regrow After Cutting
Chives might be one of the best herbs to keep at home for regrowing. They will quickly start regrowing after being harvested. Therefore you can take as much as you want without worrying about the plant being harmed.
What Part Of Chives Do You Use
There are a number of parts of the chive that you could use. We prefer the green stalks before it’s begun to flower. But the flowers and the flower buds are also great sources for flavor. They are insanely spicy and flavorful.
