Onions

We plant on average 120-200 plants a year large ones and also shallots.  We dry and store the best ones as whole bulbs for use during the winter.  Any that are remotely dodgy or bulbs that have broken up we either dry as rings or make onion and garlic balls for the freezer. The peelings are great for goats as are the dried dead leaves and stalks.  We normally have onions for most of the year and as the plants are fairly low maintenance they represent good value for money.

Planting, care and maintenance

We plant our onions as sets in late November, weather permitting.  We plant them in pairs of trenches about 5cms deep alternating between the trenches so that they are about 40cms apart.  This leaves us with a pile of dirt on each side of each plant so that if it gets a bit dry and the earth begins to crack we have some extra soil to hoe over them. We use a pointy stick to make a hole in the bottom of the trench, drop the set in and then cover with dirt.

Given the time of year they shouldn't need watering until the start of summer and even then we avoid over watering, every 3 days or so if it's very hot. Check them every day from the spring onwards to ensure that you remove any seed pods that appear. They look like a single stalk with an oval ball at the tip. Snap them off and give to the goats but don't let them breathe on you afterwards.

Harvesting

When the onion is ready the foliage will go yellow and wilt over. When they look wilted and dead and not before as they will not store very well we carefully dig them up with a fork and brush off any dirt but leave the dead leaves attached. We then lay them out in a sunny spot on racks. We like to use an old clothes drier covered in olive netting so the air can get around them. Don't crowd them, each should have it's own space. We check them every day to see if they make a dry cracking sound when gently squeezed at the top of the bulb, when they do they are ready for storage. Avoid brushing any of the skins off before they are ready. When they are ready we cut off the leaves and roots and feed them to the goats and take the bulbs for storage.

Dry Storage and freezing

Nice whole bulbs are placed in K's tights and stockings, not while she is wearing them of course.  We separate them with string and then hang them in our store room which is cool and dry till needed.  If they are properly dried they will easily last a year.  Any dodgy ones we will either use immediately, dry as rings to make onion flakes and powder or make onion and garlic balls for the freezer.