Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Onions

Yes I know this isn't an onion, but isn't it pretty? It was a volunteer that germinated in early April. Somehow it survived and grew. It is my only blooming sunflower right now, though I have buds on another. I thought this was a Lemon Queen, but now I think that is a mix between that and another that has orange markings, because I can see faint markings on some of the flowers.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program

When I got back from vacation I saw my Ailsa Craig onions were dying back. Last year I had to knock them down in August to get them to start curing. This year they are weeks earlier.

I dry them for a couple of days in the sun. The best place is the pallets between the compost piles. They hold it very well. The only risk is one slips down between the slats and I lose it.

I also used my picket fence, but the foliage of the onion had dried so much that the onions kept falling off. Usually I have more living foliage on the onions to counter balance the bulbs.

Today I moved them inside after they had been drying for a couple of days. Last year they were on the dining room floor, but I was afraid the dog would play with them and onions aren't good for dogs. So this year I put them upstairs in the nursery. I will let them sit somewhere dry for about 2 weeks or until their outer layers are dry. Then hopefully there will be enough good foliage left to braid them. I could just cut the tops off and toss them in a mesh bag, but I've always liked the braided ones hanging. I'll store them in the basement. These won't last very long since they are a sweet onion. I have storage onions still growing - Copra, Redwing, and Varsity. Varsity is supposed to be a big onion, but I think the Copras are just as big this year. I might not grow that one again.

12 comments:

  1. What a lovely harvest, i have red onions in my plot.Though they are a few weeks off yet.

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  2. Beautiful onions! I am hoping to grow onions in my fall garden.

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  3. I love that picture of the onions drying on the fence!

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  4. Wow your onions look amazing. Mine will not be ready for a few more months. Which is your best storage onion? And which handles extreme temperature differences? Our winters get below zero and up to 105 sometimes in the summer.

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    Replies
    1. Last year the best storage onion was Redwing. It even beat out Copra which is supposed to be the standard of storage onions for my latitude. Not sure which one handles extreme temperature differences. We don't get that here. In this horribly hot summer we have only been in the 90s not in the 100s. I live in a maritime climate. And I don't overwinter onions, so I don't know which would be the hardiest. I start them indoors at the end of January.

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  5. Nice onions! Mine are way behind this year, just beginning to bulb up. I still have some Redwing and Copras from last year in storage that haven't sprouted yet! Prince is also a good storage onion and it is larger than Copra.

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  6. I am a sunflower grower too but I tend to grow the darker bronze shades. They are essential to the summer garden.

    Love your onion drying technique. I have yet to brave growing onions.

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  7. Your onions look fabulous, much bigger than I've grown them. How close together do you plant?

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    1. I plant 6" (15cm) apart. Usually I listen to Jeavons advice, but 4" just doesn't let them grow well enough. So I switched it to 6" and that seems to be a large enough spacing.

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  8. I would love to grow onions to store but I live in a typical subdivision home with no basement. The winters are cold and wet and the summers are very humid so I don't think I could store them in our garage. Would you have a recommendation as to where to store them? I live in East TN is that helps.

    I love your blog!

    http://www.growitathome.wordpress.com
    Joelle

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    1. I'd just store them in the house if I didn't have a basement. They won't store as long without the coolness, but they will still store for quite some time if you get good keepers.

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