Allium schoenoprasum, Allium fistulosum Chives.

Chives are native to Europe, North America and Asia, and are essentially small onions. They are widely used in cooking, being one of the "fines herbes" of French cuisine. The most often used part is the slender leafy stalk, called a scape, which lends a strong onion type flavour to soups, salads and other dishes, it's also possible to use the purple flowers as an attractive and tasty garnish.

While fresh chives are popular, and are often kept as a garden herb for maximum freshness, the dried scapes retain plenty of flavour making them a useful culinary addition.

While the Romans believed that Chives could help with sore throats and sunburn they aren't widely used as a medicinal herb today. The properties are similar to those of garlic, but weaker.

The long scapes grow up from a bulb, and can be harvested throughout the growing season, usually spring and summer. As the scape keeps growing after being cut back repeat harvests are possible, and as the plant is a perennial with a bit of care it can provide a crop year in year out.

Chives can be planted to discourage pest insects which are repelled by the strong smell, however in other circumstances their attractiveness to bees can be useful, providing a welcome food source for these useful pollinators.

Camstar can supply a wide range of dried Chive products to your requirements, if you can't find what you need on our product list be sure to contact us, as we're always expanding our product inventory.