I have lots of wild onions that put up very thin/flat stalks. Very unlike the big round green chives you find in the stores. These are almost like paper thin flat chives.

Are these truly "wild" onions, or just another variety that i don't see in the store? Anyone have these & use them in the kitchen?

Thanks

-- Buk (noaddy@tiredofspam.com), February 03, 2002

Answers

Sounds like garlic chives to me. I think they are also called chinese onions! Not to sure about that. You can use them just like chives but they have a garlic flavor to them. Try them and let us know.

Susan

-- Susan in Minnesota (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), February 03, 2002.

if they smell like onions they are safe to eat. use like chives, that is what they are. you can chop, dry and grind; put in a shaker jar to use. they retain a nice green color.

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), February 03, 2002.

I have them ,, and I eat them also. Will be geting garlic chives this year too. Just use the onion chives like chives,, and when they get out fo control ,, pull some up by the roots,, and use in soups or whatever,, use like a mini onion

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 03, 2002.

FYI - Don't get poisoned! Star of Bethlehem grows along with these wild onion/chives & is poisonous. It has a similar white bulb; has similar flat green leaves and is about the same size as the wild onion/chives - On the Star of Bethlehem you will see a white-ish midline down the leaf - This is one way to tell the difference....Also, they don't smell like onions - (They also get a cluster of pretty white flowers in the spring) Just wanted to warn you -

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), February 03, 2002.

They are coming up all over the pastures and hayfields now here too, my Arabian mare loves to eat them!

I don't eat them, onion gives me horrible heartburn unless fully cooked. They are safe to use as long as the strong onion smell is there.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 03, 2002.

We eat wild onions every spring. The ones you described sounds like wild onions. Wild garlic onion stems are round and dark green while the wild chive onion stems are flat and a lighter green color. We pick a great big handful, wash them and cut the roots off, and then chop them up and steam them for a while until they are wilted. We then scramble several eggs in them, add a little salt and bacon grease, and WA-LA, you have a delicious meal. Good side dishes to go with them are brown beans and corn bread and fried tators. Makin me hungry!

You people must live a little futher south than I do. When I see wild garlic and onions growing then I know it is time to plant my onion sets in the garden. I'm usually eating green onions long before anybody else.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 03, 2002.

You don't want 'em, I'll take 'em. I eat wild onions, chives, garlic and asparagus.

-- al (yr2012@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

r.h. in Oklahoma,

You and I must take our recipes from the same book! Also cut these wild plants into fresh salads.

-- woodsbilly (coleenl@penn.com), February 06, 2002.