In my herb box

[bones2112]

My chives & rosemary are flowering, is that normal or are they dieing?

[Kelly Sigh]

Oh, Julie, Julie....

I've 'ad a word with my resident gardening hexpert, and she tells me I was right... you don't want yer chives flowering else they won't be chives, they'll be flowers!

The rosemary is fine... but don't put the flowery bits in yer lamb casserole!

kind regards
Kel and her greenthumbed hexpert!

[bones2112]

thanks Kells xxx

[Fi]

You can, however, add the chive flowers to salads etc. They have the same oniony flavour, but look much prettier than the leaves. I'm also a bit at a loss as to why adding rosemary flowers to lamb casserole is such a bad thing. They won't look pretty once they've been stewed for a while, but again the flavour will be the same.
The other thought is that the best time to preserve herbs by drying is when they are flowering - the flavour in the leaves is most intense at that time. I wouldn't try it with chives, their flavour is too subtle, but certainly rosemary, if you only have a smal plant and so need some dried to tide you over winter when growth slows.

[sugarplumfairy]

I chop chives into 1cm (or less) lengths and freeze them to use over winter and they seem to taste ok for me.

[Tigger]

My rosemary has been flowering for over a month now!

[Ivan Astikov]

So what should you do with your chives if they are flowering? Just pop the flowers off, or cut it right back and freeze/dry all but the flowers?

[tigerlily]

Does it matter if basil is allowed to flower?

[Tina Biscuit]

May 9, 2008 16:30:40 GMT tigerlily said:

Does it matter if basil is allowed to flower?

It's best to pinch the flowers out to encourage more leaves to grow, but if you're growing it to look pretty rather than use it then it probably doesn't matter

[Fi]

May 9, 2008 15:35:11 GMT Ivan Astikov said:

So what should you do with your chives if they are flowering? Just pop the flowers off, or cut it right back and freeze/dry all but the flowers?

Yes.

[Fi]

May 9, 2008 11:19:05 GMT sugarplumfairy said:

I chop chives into 1cm (or less) lengths and freeze them to use over winter and they seem to taste ok for me.

I just keep pots of chives from succesive sowings in the kitchen during winter. The same goes for all the other common herbs that the supermarkets sell at ridiculous prices. I've got a long planter that sits neatly in one of the kitchen windows, so they look pretty as well as always being available fresh. The only exceptions are thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage, since they dry easily without losing their flavour.

[Ivan Astikov]

May 10, 2008 22:43:23 GMT Fi said:

May 9, 2008 15:35:11 GMT Ivan Astikov said:

So what should you do with your chives if they are flowering? Just pop the flowers off, or cut it right back and freeze/dry all but the flowers?

Yes.

Helpful...

[bones2112]

thanks Fi and thanks Ivan for the next question I was going to ask

[Fi]

May 12, 2008 7:52:50 GMT Ivan Astikov said:

May 10, 2008 22:43:23 GMT Fi said:

Yes.

Helpful...

I wasn't being entirely flippant. The point I was making was that what you do with chives is up to you. They are very forgiving plants - I prefer to make successive sowings of seeds so that I can have them fresh throughout the year. But, if you have access to a fridge that allows freeze drying, then that is the best way to preserve them - the flavour is so delicate it can/will be lost with air drying and just freezing them means that they lose their shape, colour and texture when they are defrosted. Removing the flowers will, all other things being equal, slightly extend the time before they die back for winter, but it won't stop that process. I pick the flower heads off because they look good in a mixed salad - as do nasturtium flowers, borage flowers, pot marigold flowers and any other edible flowers, but the plants they come from will not continue to grow all year round if left in the garden. Only artificial light and heat will encourage it to happen and for most herbs I don't bother, since a "flowery" salad is very much a summer thing. Chive leaves, however, are welcome all year round - I love baked potatoes with a topping of sour cream, black pepper and chives for example. But there are no hard and fast rules - at the most it's a matter of cheating their natural growth cycle to fit your own needs.

[Ivan Astikov]

Aha, thanks Fi