Spring awakens our hunger for garden greens. Here in the northern hemisphere, the daylight hours are shorter and the light is weaker than in summer. The nutrition in the garden greens of spring, summer and fall can’t be matched by grocery store produce shipped to us from far away, no matter how hard everyone in the grocery supply chain tries to store it well and send it to our communities promptly. So the first garden greens of spring are special.

Garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) are among the earliest spring greens in my garden. They can grow as well in a pot as in the ground, and they’re delicious. Less pungent than garlic, so they can be enjoyed raw, they have a more robust flavor than regular chives (Allium schoenoprasum) with their their mild oniony flavor.