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Chive Blossoms: How to Use Them

The purple chive flowers appear in the herb bed from March to September. Like chives themselves, you can use them as a spice and decoration in the kitchen. We’ll show you how to harvest and process the flowers.

Chive blossoms are not only pretty to look at, they also taste very good. Unlike the aromatic, spicy stalks of chives, the taste of the flowers is milder and slightly sweet. The combination of the chive blossoms with the stalks is therefore particularly tasty. In the following article you will find out how exactly you harvest the flowers and what versatile uses there are for them.

Harvesting chive blossoms correctly: Here’s how

Depending on the weather, you can harvest chive blossoms from March to September. Since the flowers contain a lot of nectar, chives are a particularly bee-friendly plant that also attracts all kinds of other insects. These crawl into the flower funnel in search of food. So that you can pick the chive blossoms without disturbing animal visitors, you should move the harvest to the early hours of the morning. Most insects do not go in search of food before the first rays of the sun. In addition, the chive blossoms in the morning contain a particularly large number of essential oils.

Proceed as follows when harvesting the chive blossoms:

Using a sharp knife, cut off the flower stalks right at the base.
Then shake the harvested chive flowers vigorously so that hidden insects fall out of the flowers.
Make sure that you collect buds that are as clean and intact as possible that you don’t have to wash again. Rinsing vigorously destroys the petals, causing the chive flowers to lose their aroma.
It is best to process the chive blossoms fresh so that they retain their taste.
By the way: As soon as chives bloom, the stalks slowly lose their strong aroma because the plant puts all its energy into the pink-purple chive blossoms. Nevertheless, you can continue to use the straws after flowering. Just note that you should not harvest woody stalks of chives.

Chive Blossoms: Healthy and delicious

Like most edible flowers, chive flowers contain many phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. Therefore, the freshly harvested flowers and buds are a healthy source of nutrients that you can safely use in salads, soups or other dishes. Chives and their flowers have long been considered medicinal plants in folk medicine, which are said to have antihypertensive effects, among other things.

Use Chive Blossoms: Aromatic Chive Blossom Butter

Chives can be used in many ways in the kitchen. You can sprinkle the flowers decoratively over salads, soups or your daily sandwich. If that’s not sophisticated enough for you, you can also pickle the chive blossoms in salt, oil or vinegar. If you’re a fan of herb butter, you can use the mild flowers along with the stalks to make a flavorful chive flower butter that’s perfect for barbecue season.

Ingredients:

250 g butter or vegan margarine
2 clove(s) garlic
20chive flowers
a few stalks of chives
Salt
pepper

Directions:

Put the butter or vegan margarine in a small saucepan and let it melt over low heat. Make sure, however, that it does not liquefy completely.
Peel the garlic and press it through a garlic press or finely chop it. Then mix it with the softened butter.
Check the chive flowers for stray insects and shake them out thoroughly. Then pluck off the individual petals.
Wash the chives and cut them into thin rings.
Add the flowers and chive rings to the butter and mix thoroughly.
Finally, season the butter with salt and pepper and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

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Food

Wild Garlic Blossoms: You Can Cook Them with These Recipes

With wild garlic flower recipes you ensure culinary variety in spring. You can harvest the flowers from May. Here are three simple recipe ideas.

Wild garlic is in season in Germany from the end of March to the end of May. In late April and early May, the aromatic herb begins to bloom for two to three weeks – and these delicate wild garlic flowers are edible.

You can collect wild garlic and wild garlic blossoms yourself in spring in many places. In another article you will find out what you should consider when harvesting wild garlic.

When it comes to the ingredients for the wild garlic flower recipes, make sure they are organic if possible. You are supporting ecologically more sustainable agriculture that treats the earth’s natural resources with care. The organic seals from Demeter, Bioland and Naturland are particularly recommended, as they require stricter criteria than the EU organic seal.

Wild Garlic Blossom Recipes: Pesto

Wild garlic blossom pesto gives pasta dishes a fresh and aromatic note. Preparation is easy and doesn’t take long. Important: The pesto has to steep for at least four weeks before you can use it.

Unopened, the wild garlic blossom pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. Opened jars should be used within a week.

Ingredients:

5 handfuls of wild garlic flowers
1 tbsp pine nuts
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp salt
1 pinch(s) of pepper

Directions:

Wash the wild garlic flowers carefully but thoroughly. Remove their stems. Chop the pine nuts. Place both ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
Add about half the olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients together until the wild garlic pesto has a slightly mushy consistency.
Put the wild garlic pesto in a sterilized jar that you can seal airtight. Cover it with the remaining olive oil. Important: Let the pesto sit for four to eight weeks before using it.

Wild Garlic Blossom Recipes: Aromatic Oil

The preparation of wild garlic blossom oil is also very easy. This herbal oil goes well with pasta, vegetable dishes or to flavor herb quark. You should plan some time again, because the oil also has to steep for at least four weeks before it is ready for consumption.

Unopened and protected from light and heat, wild garlic blossom oil can be kept for up to six months. Opened oil should be used up within six weeks.

Ingredients:

1 handful of wild garlic blossoms
100 ml rapeseed oil
1 pinch(s) of pepper

Directions:

Wash the wild garlic flowers carefully but thoroughly. Remove their stems. Then place them on a clean tea towel and pat them as dry as possible.
Put the wild garlic blossoms together with the rapeseed oil and the pepper in a sterilized jar that you can seal airtight. Brown glass is particularly suitable because it protects the herbal oil from environmental influences and thus extends its shelf life. The wild garlic blossoms should be completely covered by the oil.
Let the wild garlic blossom oil steep in as dark a place as possible for four weeks. Strain the wild garlic blossoms before using the oil.

Wild garlic blossom vinegar

Wild garlic blossom vinegar is prepared in a similar way to the oil. The herbal vinegar is well suited for quick salads. With this recipe, too, you have to allow three to four weeks for the vinegar to steep.

Wild garlic blossom vinegar can be kept unopened for up to five years. Once opened, you should use it within six months.

Ingredients:

1 handful of wild garlic blossoms
100 ml white wine vinegar colored peppercorns

Directions:

Wash the wild garlic flowers carefully but thoroughly. Remove their stems. Then place them on a clean tea towel and pat them as dry as possible.
Put the wild garlic blossoms together with the white wine vinegar and the peppercorns in a sterilized jar that you can seal airtight. The wild garlic blossoms should be completely covered by the vinegar.
Let the wild garlic blossom vinegar steep for three to four weeks. Then strain the wild garlic blossoms and peppercorns and fill the vinegar into a clean bottle.

Wild garlic blossoms as an aromatic ingredient

You can also use wild garlic blossoms in their unprocessed form as an ingredient for various dishes. For example, you can mix the washed flowers with fresh wild herb salads or decorate various dips with them.

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Food

Edible Flowers and Blossoms

Edible flowers and blossoms are real eye-catchers in your garden and on your balcony. And in terms of taste, they are an enrichment for summer salads, desserts and much more.
In the vegetable garden, edible flowers mixed with vegetables can also be very useful!

Which flowers and blossoms are edible?

Some flowers of vegetables and herbs are perfectly edible. Nevertheless, you should be very sure before consuming it, as there are also inedible and even poisonous flowers. We have created an overview of the edible vegetable blossoms, flowers and herb blossoms.

When harvesting flowers and blossoms, be careful not to let them fall off the side of the road as this is a popular dog litter box. Growing the flowers yourself also ensures that no pesticides have been used.

Grow edible flowers and blossoms in your own garden

You can grow edible flowers in the vegetable patch, on the windowsill or on the balcony. There are great seed mixtures of different edible varieties or you can choose your favorite varieties, such as the spicy nasturtium or the radiant cornflower for sowing.

Most edible flowers are annuals and, depending on the variety, are sown directly into the bed by the end of April or even by mid-May. You can find the exact sowing times on the packaging of the seeds.

Edible herbal flowers

The flowers of all edible herbs are also edible. Herbs are propagated by cuttings, which requires a little patience. It is best to buy an organic herb pot from a retailer and divide it among your beds. Herbs are theoretically perennial, but do not survive the cold temperatures well. In winter you can overwinter them indoors as a whole plant or just keep a few cuttings for next season.

Try the flowers of chives, borage and oregano. These are especially delicious!

Edible vegetable flowers

You probably figured it out: Most of the flowers from your home-grown vegetables in the garden are also edible. But beware! There are a few toxic exceptions that you should never eat: Potatoes, eggplant, and all bean blossoms shouldn’t be on the menu. You should keep your hands off that.

Other flowers such as squash or zucchini flowers are edible. This knowledge is particularly helpful in the high season of the zucchini harvest. Make processing easier for yourself by not letting a few zucchini grow at all, but harvesting the flower directly. They are delicious baked and out of the oven.
The flowers of fennel are also typical edible flowers that are often dried and made into tea.

Edible flowers in the vegetable patch

Planting flowers in your vegetable patch is always a good idea. With their bright colors and scent, they attract beneficial insects that will help you pollinate your vegetables. The strong scent clouds also deter pests.

The mixed culture of vegetables and flowers requires a little more space, but it looks good and tastes good.

Our top 3 mixed cultures of vegetables and edible flowers:

Borage and pumpkin or zucchini plants
Marigolds and tomatoes
Nasturtium and potatoes (never nasturtium and cabbage)

Harvest edible flowers and blossoms correctly

You should harvest edible flowers and blossoms in the morning and when they are fresh. So the highest content of essential oils is still contained in the plant. Shake the flowers briefly so insects can fall out. The flowers only have to be washed off if they are heavily soiled. Plants stay fresh in a glass of water.

Growing your own is the safest, as the plants have not been sprayed and are safe to eat.

Nutrients of the flowers

Edible flowers and blossoms are high in essential oils. These oils are used in medicine to treat various ailments.

Here some examples:

Rose against wounds and minor burns
Nasturtium (mustard glycosides) has an antibiotic effect
Daisies purify blood, purify the liver, against rheumatism and skin ailments
Elderberry anti-inflammatory and antibiotic, expectorant, antipyretic, diuretic, anti-rheumatic

Preserve edible flowers

There are many ways to process the colorful flowers and use them decoratively. Some like nasturtium and marigold are more suitable for savory dishes. Others, such as rose petals or lavender, are good in sweet desserts or as blossom sugar.

We know flowers like chamomile traditionally as dried tea. But fresh blossoms in bread dough, as colorful herb butter or cooked as jelly refine your dishes.

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