Fall may be upon us but there's no reason to stop growing fresh food. One of the easiest herbs to grow in a kitchen windowsill are chives. Chives are a versatile herb because unlike bulb-type onions, the flavor is very delicate. This makes them the perfect addition to dishes where you'd like a little zing but still want to keep things on the mild side.

Chives (and garlic chives) can be chopped up and used in salads, sandwiches, and potatoes. Sprinkle them on soups as a garnish and a little somethin'-somethin'. Both butter and cream cheese can be made into festive spreads with chives. I put chives on everything I can think of except maybe oatmeal.

Growing Chives in Your Kitchen Window Indoors

I want to make something perfectly clear; growing any herbs indoors will not provide nearly the harvest that an outdoor garden will bring. Even those nifty grow-lights don't fully duplicate the outdoor growing environment that plants need to perform optimally. That said, I love growing herbs indoors and I am able to harvest herbs and enjoy them - even if they aren't by the bunches like my regular garden.

Chives are easy to grow indoors. They like rich soil and resent dry feet, so keep their soil evenly moist.  They like sun so choose a sunny window sill. Which window exposure is your next question. Well, a northern one simply won't provide enough light. But a southern exposure could bring too much light (strength-wise-through-glass) for chives.

Optimally, I look for an eastern or western exposure and if that's not doable, opt for the southern. Experiment around your home with individual herbs because different herbs require different amounts of light. Basil, for instance, would love the window with the southern exposure.

Keep your chives trimmed with a nice haircut as this will prevent the leaves from "finishing" their growth cycle. You want to keep your chives believing that they aren't done growing so you can continue to harvest their tasty leaves.

If you aren't going to use the leaves when you harvest them, just cut off a clump and drop them inside a Ziploc freezer baggie. Pop the baggie into the freezer and you'll have fresh chives to use at any time.

Chive Butter with Parsley

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of softened butter
• 1 Tbsp of chopped chives
• 1 1/2 Tbsp chopped parsley
• Lemon juice
• Salt

1. Beat the butter to make it pliable for adding the other ingredients.
2. Beat in the herbs into the butter and then add the lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt to taste.
3. Chill the chive butter before serving. This butter can also be placed in a mold and then chilled. Alternately, it can be frozen in ice cube trays for convenience.

Chive butter makes a special spread for holiday events or unexpected guests. Spread it on toast, crackers, bread as well as meat, fish and grilled vegetables. Bring chive butter with you as delicious appetizer for parties and don't forget to brag a little about growing the ingredients yourself!

Photo by a.pitch under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.