Chives
Price: $2.75
SKU: 4000101As a culinary herb, its scrapes (stems) and the unopened, immature flower buds are diced and used as a flavoring ingredient in soups, fish, and potato recipes. Chives are commonly available in grocery stores and should be a common plant in everyone's kitchen garden. They are probably best known for their use as a garnish, along with butter and sour cream, on baked potatoes. Can be used fresh or dried.
Chives reportedly possess insect-repelling properties that can be used in your garden to deter pests. Long-lived and hardy perennial. Each packet contains 0.5 gram, which is approximately 440 seeds.
Planting Depth – ¼ inch
Seed Spacing – 4 to 5 in.
Plant Height – 10 inches
Thinning Height – 2 to 4 inches
Spacing after Thinning – 6 inches
Sow seeds in a sunny location after all danger of frost has passed. Can also be started in pots and transplanted. Optimal germination soil temperature is 60ºF to 70ºF. They prefer rich, well-drained soil.
If the scrapes (stalks) start looking old, simply cut them back. During the growing season, the plants will continually regrow. In colder climates, the plants will die back to the bulbs and can benefit from being covered with a layer of mulch or straw.
Use fresh by harvesting or dry and enjoy as a garnish. Plant in pots in a sunny windowsill to enjoy year round.
Customer Reviews:
By Paula Beach (Gaylord, MI) on May 31, 2023
Never had success with chives before. I never got germination from store packets. I bought seed from Victory two years ago and had no trouble. These grow huge and are loving my garden. They transplant well. In fact, the wind knocked the pots off the balcony onto the floor about five times before I planted them out and they didn't care. I planted them in the ground in fall and they survived two feet of snow. More than that, they were twice as big when the snow melted so I guess they grow under the snow. They draw in pollinators and the deer leave them alone.
I wish I could show you my pictures, but I can't figure out how to post them on this new site. I wanted to show how different plants have different colors of flowers from almost white to pink to lavender and grow about two feet high. The plants are very decorative as well as tasty and are a major ingredient in my turnip and potato stew. I use a whole cup of fresh minced chives for four servings of stew. No need to be stingy; I have lots and they grow back quickly. A note to those who haven't harvested chives before: Don't pull the whole plant like onions. Just cut the top of the green part off leaving about four inches so the plant can grow back.
By Laura Lyons on March 5, 2020
I had never started chives from seed before, but they were incredibly easy - great germination, easy to transplant. My son accidentally weeded them shortly after transplanting, but I was able to salvage them and all bounced back beautifully. Obviously very hard to kill, hardy in all weather conditions, and have lovely flowers, even in the first year. Highly recommended, and you'll have plenty of seed to share with others.
