Chives, Garlic Chives

1. Description
2. Origin
3. Uses
4. Culture
5. Sources
6. Thanks to .
   
   

Allium schoenoprasum L. (chives),
A. tuberosum (garlic chives)
Family: Liliaceae

Common names: Chives: chives, Garlic chives: Chinese chives, cuchay

Description

Chives, a bulbous, herbaceous perennial, can grow to 70cm or more. Smooth, slim, hollow, green leaves are produced in thick tufts. Small white bulbs are produced in clumps on the base of the plant below the surface of the soil. Garlic chives is slightly smaller, growing to 50cm. Garlic chives' main storage tissue is the rhizome rather than bulbs. The leaves of garlic chives are similar to chives but are flat instead of hollow. On chives small, round umbels of rose-purple or mauve flowers are borne on leafless stalks. Garlic chives have white flowers. Seeds are bluish black.

Chives: A. schoenoprasum L.

Garlic chives: A. tuberosum

A. schoenoprasum flower

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Origin

A. schoenoprasum - Europe, Asia; A.tuberosum - central and northern Europe and Asia: Chinese chives and garlic chives have been used as culinary herbs for thousands of years and were probably used first by the Chinese and ancient Greeks. These hardy, perennial herbs have never been of great economic importance and although there is some commercial production, chives and garlic chives are found most commonly in home gardens. Chives can produce an essential oil but usually the fresh or dried leaves are used in cuisine. Compounds responsible for the distinctive flavour of chives and garlic chives include the disulphides; propenylcysteine sulfoxide, dipropyl disulphide, diallyl disulphide, and methylallyl disulphide. Garlic chives contain greater quantities of methylpropyl disulfide than chives. Chive leaves are rich in vitamin C, protein, fiber, and potassium. Garlic chives, which have a taste reminiscent of garlic, are also high in vitamin C, plus contain carotene, vitamin B1 and B2, calcium and iron.

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Uses of chives and garlic chives and claims

• Culinary: fresh and dried leaves can be used in a variety of dishes including salad, soup, cheese, potatoes, meat, fish, eggs etc.; bulbs can be pickled; flowers can be used fresh or dried in egg, cheese, and fish dishes or used as a garnish
• Medicinal:
• chives: have been used as a vermifuge, have a limited antibiotic effect, said to reduce blood pressure, and strengthen kidneys,
• garlic chives: a popular Chinese medicinal herb used to reduce fatigue, has been used as an antidote for ingested poisons, to control excessive bleeding; leaves and rhizomes are applied to bug bites, cuts, wounds; seeds are used to treat kidney, liver, and digestive system problems.
• Industrial: ornamental, can be used as a cut-flower

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Culture

• Propagation: Propagation can be form seed or divided roots. Seeds can be sown indoors in the early spring and transplanted outdoors or direct seeded. Germination takes 10 to 14 days.
• Soil Type: Chives prefer well drained, organic, fertile soil with a pH of 6-7. Can grow in full sun or partial shade although the latter has stragglier plants and fewer flowers.
• Cultivation: Chives can be grown as an annual or a perennial. Space plants 10 cm apart in rows 30 cm apart. Chives grow better if cut down to 10 cm (4 inches) in the summer. Adequate nitrogen is important and a preplant complete fertilizer or composted manure is recommended with additional nitrogen applications after the first harvest every year. Several cuttings can be obtained each year but the number of cuttings may be limited by rust disease as the season progresses.
• Harvest: Leaves are cut as needed. Best used fresh. A. tuberosum is sometimes blanched after harvest to soften leaves to be eaten raw.

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Sources

• Halva, S., L.E. Craker. 1996. Manual for Northern Herb Growers. HSMP Press.
• Keville, K. 1994. Herbs an Illustrated Encyclopedia. Friedman/Fairfax publishers.
• Kowalchik, C., W.H. Hylton Eds. 1998. Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. Rodale Press.
• Small, E. 1997. Culinary Herbs. National Research Council of Canada

Thanks to

This demonstration garden was a result of the efforts of Dr. Alan McKeown, Vegetable Scientist, University of Guelph and was made possible with grants from the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and the Tobacco Diversification Program.

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