The Big "Oh"

Before the harvesting of potatoes, and the ripening of the tomatoes, it is time to harvest the onions.

When the green tops start to fall over, the onions cease growing and we know the harvest is close at hand. We'll usually help them along by knocking down the remaining tops so the bulbs can began drying to dry out.

Harvesting onions is best done when the soil is a bit dry. If a heavy rain is in the forecast, as it was in this case, we try to get them out of the ground the day before.

We examine the onions as they are pulled from the ground. Any with root maggots or other insects are disposed of so as not to contaminate the rest.

The good ones are put into a cart where they will be left in moderate sunlight for a week or so to begin the curing process. We pull the carts into the garage at night.

Candy doesn't really enjoy playing fetch the onion!

The yellow ones will provide us with onions for much of the winter, as they are good storage onions.

The red onions do not keep as long. They will be used first, and many of them will go into pickling jars for use on sandwiches, hamburgers and in salads. Pickled red onions are delicious and will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

If we find we have too many onions to use, they can be chopped and dehydrated or frozen.

Onions are easily grown from sets, which are little onion bulbs that are commonly available in the spring. After applying a balanced fertilizer to the soil, the small bulbs are planted about 5 inches apart. They are seldom bothered by insects, but we always expect to lose a few to the onion maggot, and because of this, it is a good idea to plant them in a different spot each year. Their only requirement is to be kept weeded as they do not like competition from other plants. The rain usually provides enough moisture and we are almost always rewarded with a good harvest