Chives

Chives is the only member of the onion group found wild in Europe, Australia and North America, where it thrives in temperate and warm to hot regions. Although one of the most ancient of all herbs, chives were not cultivated in European gardens until the 16th century.

Chives were a favorite in China as long ago as 3,000 BC. They were enjoyed for their delicious mild onion flavor and used as an antidote to poison and to stop bleeding. Their culinary virtues were first

reported to the West by the explorer and traveler, Marco Polo. During the middle Ages they were sometimes known as rush-leeks, from the Greek 'schoinos' meaning rush and 'parson' meaning 'leek'.

Species

Allium schoenoprasum

Chives

Hardy perennial. Ht 30cm (12in). Purple globular flowers all summer. Leaves green and cylindrical. Apart from being a good culinary herb it makes an excellent edging plant.

Allium schoenoprasum 'fine-leaved'

Extra Fine Leafed Chives Hardy perennial. Ht 20cm (8in), Purple globular flowers all summer. Very narrow cylindrical leaves, not as coarse as standard chives. Good for culinary usage.

Allium schoenoprasum 'white'

While Chives

Hardy perennial. Ht 20cm (8in). White globular flowers all summer. Cylindrical green leaves. A

cultivar of ordinary chives and very effective in a silver garden. Good flavor.

Allium schoenoprasum roseum

Pink Chives

Hardy perennial. Ht 20cm (8in). Pink flowers all summer. Cylindrical green leaves. Also a cultivar of

Ordinary chives, its pink flowers can look a bit insipid if planted too close to the purple flowered variety. Good in flower arrangements.

Allium tuberosum

Garlic Chives (Chinese chives)

Hardy perennial. Ht 40cm (16in). White flowers all summer. Leaf mid-green, flat and solid with a sweet garlic flavor when young. As they get older the leaf becomes tougher and the taste coarser.

Cultivation

Propagation

Seed

Easy from seed, but they need a temperature of 19°C (65°F) to germinate, so if sowing outside, wait until late spring for the soil to be warm enough. I recommend starling this plant in plug trays with bottom heat in early spring. Sow about 10-15 seeds per 3cm (1in) cell. Transplant either into pots or into the garden when the soil has warmed.

Division

Every few years in the spring lift clumps (made up of small bulbs) and replant in 6-1(1 bulb-clumps, 15cm (Bins) apart, adding fresh compost or manure.

Pests and Diseases

Greentry may be a problem on pot-grown herbs. Wash off gently under the tap or use a liquid horticultural soap. Be diligent, for aphids can hide deep down among the bulbs.

Cool wet autumns may produce downy mildew; the leaves will become velvety and die back from the tips. Dig up, split and re-pot affected plants, at the same time cutting back all the growth to prevent the disease spreading.

Chives can also suffer from rust. As this is a virus it is essential to cut back diseased growth immediately and burn it. Do not compost. If very bad, remove the plant and burn it all. Do not plant any rust prone plants in that area.

Maintenance

Spring: Clear soil around emerging established plants. Feed with liquid fertilizer. Sow seeds.

Summer: Remove the flower stem before flowering to increase leaf production.

Autumn: Prepare soil for next year's crop. Dig up a small clump, pot, bring inside for forcing.

Winter: Cut forced chives and feed regularly.

Garden Cultivation

Chives are fairly tolerant regarding soil and position, but produce the best growth planted 15cm (bin) from other plants in a rich moist soil and in a fairly sunny position. If the soil is poor they will turn yellow and then brown at the tips. For an attractive edging, plant al a distance of 10cm (4in) and allow to flower. Keep newly transplanted plants well watered in the spring, and in the summer make sure that they do not dry out, otherwise the leaves will quickly shrivel. Chives die right back into the ground in winter, but a winter cutting can be forced by digging up a clump in autumn, potting it into a rich mix of compost (bark, peat mix), and placing it somewhere warm with good light.

Harvest

Chives may be cut to within 3cm (1in) of the ground 4 limes a year to maintain a supply of succulent fresh leaves. Chives do not dry well. Refrigerated leaves in a sealed plastic bag will retain crispness for seven days. Freeze chopped leaves in ice cubes for convenience.

Cut flowers when they are fully open before the color fades for use in salads and sauces.

Medicinal

The leaves are mildly antiseptic and when sprinkled onto food they stimulate the appetite and promote digestion.

Container growing

Chives grow well in pots or on a window sill and flourish in a window box if partially shaded. They need an enormous quantity of water and occasional liquid feed to stay green and succulent. Remember too that, being bulbs, chives need some top growth for strengthening and regeneration, so do not cut away all the leaves if you wish to use them next season. Allow to die back in winter if you want to use it the following spring. A good patio plant, easy to grow, but not particularly fragrant.

Culinary

Add chives at the end of cooking or the flavor will disappear. They are delicious freshly picked and snipped as a garnish or flavor in omelettes or scrambled eggs, salads and soups. They can be mashed into soft cheeses or sprinkled onto grilled meats. Add to sour cream as a filling for jacket potatoes.

Chive butter

Use in scrambled eggs, omelettes and cooked vegetables and with grilled lamb or fish or on jacket potatoes.

100g/4oz/½ cup butter 4 tablespoons chopped chives 1 tablespoon lemon juice Salt and pepper.

Cream the chives and softened butter together until well mixed. Beat in the lemon juice and season to taste. Cover and cool the butter in the refrigerator until ready to use; it will keep for several days.

Companion planting

Chives planted next to apple trees prevent scab, and when planted next to roses can prevent black spot. Hence the saying, 'Chives next to roses creates poses'.

Other uses

Chives are said to prevent scab infection on animals.

Garlic

Garlic

Also known as Clove Garlic. From the family Liliaceae.

Garlic originates from India or Central Asia and is one of the oldest and most valued of plants. In Greek legend, Odysseus used Moly, a wild garlic, as a charm to keep the sorceress, Circe, from turning him into a pig. The Egyptians used it medicinally. Both the slaves constructing the pyramid of Cheops and the Roman soldiers were given garlic cloves daily to sustain their strength. It was probably the Romans who introduced it into Britain. The common name is said to have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'leac', meaning pot herb and 'gar', a lance, after the shape of the stem.

The term for 'leper' in the Middle Ages was 'pilgarlic' because the leper had to peel his own. During the First World War, spaghnum moss was soaked in garlic juice as an antiseptic wound dressing. An old country remedy for whooping cough was to put a clove of garlic in the shoes of the whooper.

A tradition still held in rural New Mexico is that garlic will help a young girl rid herself of an unwanted boyfriend.

Species

Allium sativum

Garlic
Hardy perennial grown as an annual. Ht 40-60cm (16-24in). A bulb made up of several cloves (bulblets) enclosed in white papery skin. The cloves vary in color from white to pink. Green leaves. White or pink round flower head. Only flowers in warm climates.

Allium oleraceum

Field Garlic
Hardy perennial, bulbous plant. Ht up to 84cm (33in). Pink summer flowers.

Cultivation

Propagation

Plant the bulbs direct in the ground.

Pests and Diseases

Susceptible to white rot, which causes yellowing of the foliage and white fungal growth on the bulbs. Remove infected plants and avoid using this ground again for garlic.

Maintenance

Spring: Plant the first month into spring. Feed with liquid fertilizer.
Summer: Potash dress garden plants. Dig up bulbs.
Autumn: Plant cloves.
Winter: Protect if the temperature falls below -15°C (5°F).

Garden Cultivation

Plant in full sun, in rich, light and well drained soil from early end-autumn to early spring. Traditionally garlic cloves are planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on longest. Split the bulb into the cloves and plant individually, pointed end up, into holes 2cm (1in) deep and 15cm (6in) apart. Keep well watered. They will be well matured in summer when the top growth starts to change color and keel over. Tying the stems in a knot is said to increase the size of the cloves.

Harvest

Ease the bulbs out of the ground when the leaves die down and lose their greenness (mid-late summer). Dry in the sun for a few days if possible, but indoors if there is a danger of rain. Hang them up in a string bag, or plait them into a garlic string. Store somewhere cool and airy.

Container growing

In the spring place a number of individual cloves in a pot (tip up) and position on a sunny windowsill. Feed with liquid fertilizer regularly and harvest the green leaves as one would chives.

Companion planting


Garlic, it is said, helps to prevent leaf curl in trees, especially peaches. Also, when planted next to roses it wards off black spot.

Other uses

Its juice acts as an insect repellent and neutralizes the poisons of bites and stings. It is an excellent glue and also enables holes to be made cleanly in glass. Simply crush a clove, rub it onto the glass and let it dry; then cut or drill the hole.

Culinary

Garlic is a very pungent but in dispensible culinary herb. In spring the flavor is lively but from summertime onwards, cloves should be split in half and the green filaments and sheath enclosing them discarded to make the garlic more digestible. Whole bulbs may be divided into cloves and roasted under a joint of lamb, and slivers of garlic inserted under the surface of meat. The longer garlic is cooked, the milder the flavor.

A peeled clove may be left to stand in a vinaigrette and then discarded before the dressing of the salad. Alternatively, rub a clove around the salad bowl.

Whole cloves flavor bottles of olive oil or wine vinegar. Garlic butter is a traditional accompaniment to snails.

The Orientals, particularly the Chinese, are great lovers of garlic. Their solution to garlic breath is to offer pods of cardamom seeds to chew at the end of a meal. You may prefer to eat parsley or basil, mint or thyme, all of which reduce the aroma on the breath.


Uses of Wild Garlic

Wild Garlic

Also known as Wood Garlic, Ransomes, Ramsons, Devil's Posy, Onion Flower, Stinkplant and Bear's Garlic. Front the family Liliaceae.

Wild garlic is a native of Europe and Asia, naturalized in many countries in the Northern hemisphere including Britain and North America.

Species

Allium ursinum

Wild Garlic
Hardy perennial. Ht 36-45cm (12-18in). Clusters of white flowers in spring and summer.


Medicinal

It has been shown to reduce blood pressure; evidently it is useful in guarding against strokes. It has also been successful in controlling diarrhoea, dysentery, TB, whooping cough, typhoid and hepatitis. Effective against many fungal infections and it can be used to expel worms. It has even been shown to lower blood sugar levels, suggesting a use in controlling diabetes.

Herbalists consider garlic to be a first-rate digestive tonic and also use it to treat toothache, earache, coughs and colds. A decaying tooth will hurt less if packed with garlic pulp until treatment can be obtained.

Externally, garlic can be applied to insect bites, boils and unbroken chilblains but it may cause an allergic rash if used for too long.

Pests and Diseases


Mostly wild garlic is free from pests and disease

Cultivation

Propagation

Seed

It is better to sow straight into the garden.

Division

Divide established plants early autumn, when the flowers have died back.

Maintenance

Spring: If the plant is getting invasive dig up.
Summer: Divide plants in late summer, when the plant has died back.
Autumn: Sow seed.
Winter: No need to protect this herb as it is fully hardy.

Garden Cultivation

Wild garlic likes a moist, fertile soil in a semi-shady to shady spot in the garden. Sow the seed in autumn where the plants are to grow and cover them lightly with soil. Germination will take place in early spring. Wild garlic self-seeds easily; in wet areas it can be invasive.

Culinary

Pick from end-spring for use in salads, soups or as a vegetable.

Other Uses

Traditionally, as a liquid household disinfectant.