Chives, chives, chives!

I grew up in Wisconsin and lived pretty close to Underwood Creek, back when it was still a natural creek (or crick, as we would say).  One of my memories of springtime is the taste of wild chives.  We used to walk in the woods along that creek looking for crayfish and would munch on chives for a snack.

Maybe that was a little weird for a kid, but how many of us as adults love our sour cream and chives on baked potatoes?  You know what I am talking about.  Yum!

One of the chive pots on my front porch. This is a sister plant
to the ones that grow along the All Peoples Greenhouse.

Springtime is chive time.  Specifically, springtime is the time when chives bloom.  Different varieties of chive plants produce flowers from pale pink (almost white), to deep purple, to dusky blue (if you are growing garlic chives).  Leaves can vary in color from lime green to forest green, some are rounder and some more flat.  A fun thing to do with kids or adults is a taste test - pick a chive leaf from each different plant and see if you can taste any difference as you munch on the different leaves.

Most of the time, chive harvesting is done by cutting the leaves off of the plant with a scissors.  Cut them in bunches, leaving about an inch of leaf left at the base.  Wash and dry them, then snip away over your salads, soups and baked potatoes.  Chives are best when harvested right before you use them, and you can cut them all summer long. 

However, in early June, while it is in full bloom, before the plant produces little black seeds between the flower petals, the chive flower is delicious to eat!  The chive flower sits atop a stalk that is coarse and not good for snipping. We have all probably gotten that tough flower stem stuck in the scissors while trying to cut the leaves.  Harvest the flower by plucking the head off of the stem. Let the stem remain part of the plant and dry.  Gather a few fresh flowers in the morning to wash and break apart over your salad or sandwich.  If you aren't sure what the taste is like, sample one little bloom from the compound flower head.  Enjoy it's delightful crunch and burst of sweet, onion flavor.

To keep your chive plants healthy, leave some flowers on the plant and let them go to seed.  Most mature plants produce more flowers than are needed for seed or that can be used for salads.  Another fun thing to do with chive flowers is to make chive-infused vinegar.

Pop your clean chive flowers into small glass bottles or jars.  You can experiment
with the number of flowers needed for the flavor strength that you like.
I usually use 3 flowers for each small bottle.

My chive flowers are huge.  I try to pick smaller ones, and close them up
a bit to push them, stem first, into the bottles.  I use a chop stick to get them in there.
Don't worry if a few small pieces fall off.  I just toss them in with the flowers.

Use a funnel and carefully add distilled, white vinegar
to each bottle.  The flowers will float up a bit.  I bought bottles
with the nifty plastic tops that snap on for easy drizzles onto
salads and such, but you can use whatever bottles you have.
If you use recycled bottles (with or without the plastic toppers)
be sure to wash them super well so they don't have residual smells.

Screw the lids on tightly and set your vinegar in a cool,
dark place, like a cupboard.  After one day, you will already
see a change! Store in a cupboard, away from sunlight to retain
the pink color.  The chive flavor will grow stronger as it sits,
and after about 2 weeks it is ready to use. You can keep it for 2 years.

During the summer, you can freeze little bundles of snipped up chives to pop into your winter soups and stews.  The dry flower stalk is sturdy, and you can use it as a natural skewer.  I leave all the dead growth on my plants over the winter to protect them.  In the spring, before the leaves begin to sprout again, I remove most of the dead stuff and add it as a brown ingredient to my compost.  

What are your favorite things to do with chives?  Tell your stories and share your photos in the comments!

Submitted by Linda Muth