Oh, those Alliums!

  I have been lax in my gardening duties as of late.  The Second Annual Clue Hunt on the Bayou took up far more of my time than I expected this year.  We had dozens of interruptions which put us far behind schedule making the final weeks pretty hectic.  The garden took the brunt of this hullabaloo.  The neglect showed immensely so today I proclaimed as "Work in the Garden Day"...and I neglected all other duties!  Still, the garden does look better and I feel better.  Although it was chilly out, the sun was bright and so was my attitude!  First on the list was to transplant the tiny cabbages.  When I seeded them in the planter box, I was a bit heavy-handed so the seedlings were far to thick.  I planted out forty-eight but the box is still "thick as the hair on a dog" (to quote Pop!).  Tomorrow, I will transplant more.  Weeding then watering rounded out the morning.  

  I did pick chive seeds as one of the chores.  Not that this task is worrisome or tiring but it does come with the drawback of making the hands smell highly of garlic/onions.  The tall seed heads were snipped back and toted inside like a bouquet of flowers.  After carefully squeezing the heads together so they would fit in a gallon bag, I tied the tops together.  Then came the fun!  Whacking the whole shebang against the side of the kitchen table, I was able to separate the seeds from the pods quite easily.  Using the plastic bag instead of the paper type, I was able to hit with wild abandon and not worry about tears.  A cloth bag would work just as fine.  Another advantage of using plastic or cloth is that the seeds do not hide in the folds of paper.  (I always know that more seeds are in the bottom of that bag!  I can hear them but never can see them!)  This method made it easy to separate the seeds.  Within thirty seconds or so, a cup of the black seeds had been collected.  These will soon find homes in seed trays in the greenhouse.  

  Chives are great herbs to grow in any garden.  They do well in ground or in containers.  Once you have them started, leave them be.  Chives need very little care to produce well.  Having the advantage of being cold tolerant, they grow throughout the winter here.  It is nice to have fresh herbs whenever I want during the winter months.  

  *Just so you will be "in the know"...chives seem to have properties that prevent a number of cancers.  Belonging to the Allium family of herbs and veggies (which also includes onions, garlic, scallions and leeks), chives have compounds that are being studied as tumor growth inhibitors.  There is no magic to using the chives or any of the Alliums. You just need to add them to your diet! Sounds good to me!  I happen to love each Allium on that list and use them regularly in my cooking!  Kitchen herbs or medicinal herbs...chives are wonderful!