Chives.

To: herbs.teleport.com
Subject: Conversation
From: Stone_Haus_Farm.prodigy.com (MRS PAT E SWEETMAN)
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 1996 18:09:38 EST

Hey everybody- Borage and chives ar the herbs of the week this week so I looked up some folklore on them. Chives is an allium(part of the lily family) and I could not find any folklore or specific "magic" tales in specific relationship to it. I pass around a bottle of dried chives and a bottle of torn up green tissue paper in my cooking classes and tell the attendees to take a sample of either bottle...they will taste the same.

From: Laurie Otto <lotto.PTIALASKA.NET>

> Anyway, with 20 years chives experience, you can probably suggest what I should do with my big clump thats been sitting in the one spot for about 18 months. It's getting way overgrown. I was going to dig it up, split into into several clumps and replant it elsewhere - does that sound about right to you?

I know, I know, this was not directed at me, but you have described exactly what you need to do with chives to get a lot more plants. I have found chives to be pretty indestuctable. We have a problem here with onion maggots and chives (little white spots on the chive leaves are a sign). The maggots infest the roots and will make the plant sickly. When this has occurred, I dig out the clump, hose down the roots aggressively to get rid of all the critters, divide them into multiple clumps and replant in unifested soil. I end up with lots of healthy chives, that I usually freeze and use all winter.

From: Debra Teachout-Teashon <teachout.PREMIER1.NET>

>Anyway, with 20 years chives experience, you can probably suggest what I should do with my big

Russell,

I don't consider myself an expert since I garden by the seat of my pants. :)) Or should I say the bend of my knee? How about the ache of my back?

I will tell you what works for me, although with your climate it may require more care than my lackadaisical attitude with chives:

With chives, I have moved them at all times of the growing season, divided them every which way. Even taken one single stem with it's little bulb and planted and they always grow no matter what I do to them. I have them growing in full sun partial shade to almost full shade (full shade they flower sparsely but the foliage is pretty). So it sounds good what you are planning to do. I usually wait till after they flower, but that's just to be able to have the flowers on a large clump, or in the fall. They will still flower after dividing just won't be as showy as in a large clump. If you are growing for culinary purposes this won't be an issue.

I really think chives are hard do anything wrong with. I love them in my flower garden, and mainly for the blossoms and in the shade garden for their foliage. I have so many I just harvest what I need without destroying it's look.

After the chives flower and before they set seed, I sheer the chives down to the ground and get a second flush of blooms although not as much as the first flowering. Hope this helps!

I haven't tried every herb, but in this lifetime I probably will or at least attempt it! :))