How To Save Chive Seeds From Your Garden

Chives Are Perfect For Seed, Time And Harvest!

Are you interested in learning how to save chive seeds from your garden; or do you want to share this skill with someone else?

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Either way, any seeds are an excellent place to start.

I save seeds for the Rural Money Homestead Garden, but today I will talk about chives.

Chives are in the garlic and onion family.

It is a versatile herb and easy to use and grow.

It has long, green stems and a mild, not-too-pungent flavor.

The green stems are the part of the chives that are used as an herb.

Chive stems are hollow and are usually used fresh.

Both stems and blossoms are edible and make the perfect, pretty garnish for sandwiches, soups, stews, baked potato, vinegar, etc.

Depending on how much chives you want to grow, it doesn’t require much isolation space to prevent cross-pollination in most areas, and no special tools.

I am growing chives in a fairly large clay pot in my front garden area.

Start With High-Quality Seeds

To get started, you need high-quality, open-pollinated seeds from healthy chive plants.

Open-pollinated means that the seed will come true-to-type when planted the following year.

I recommend buying high-quality chive seeds.

Or, buy potted plants that are already blooming in quart-size pots from a reputable nursery with healthy plants.

When planting chives in your garden, plan to allow at least 20 feet between chives and other herbs.

During the growing season, be sure to make note of how well your chives grow and multiply.

These plants will produce the best seed for the following growing season.

Let Your Chives Go To Seed

Allow the flowers to stay on the plant until they have dried and turned grey.

You can check the dryness of the flowers by giving them a light squeeze.

If you see the black seeds popping out, then the flowers are dry enough to harvest.

Once you have dried flowers, it’s time to pick those flowers from the plants and place them in a cool, dry place for additional drying time.

The dried flowers can be left to finish drying for a few weeks.

When the flowers are completely dry, break them open to release the chive seeds.

Allow Chive Seeds To Dry

It’s generally best to allow the chive seeds a few more weeks to dry once they have been removed from their blossoms.

This allows any residual moisture that had been held in by the blossom to be released.

To collect chive seeds, gently shake the blossoms over a container.

You could also clip the flower heads off the plant and drop them into a paper bag.

Then fold over the top of the bag and shake it to release the chive seeds from the blossoms.

Once your chive seeds are completely dry, place them in an airtight container to keep out moisture and humidity, and store them in a cool, dark, dry place.

My chive seeds are drying on the table and will be saved in the two William Sonoma tins, for the next planting season.

Note: Chives in Zone 7b to 8a will grow through the Fall until frost.