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Seasons
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There is nothing that makes my mouth drool
more than the thought of sweet, tender, spring onions! There are many colors and kinds of onions;
cooking onions, sweet onions, bunching onions, pickling onions, potato
onions, shallots, garlic and leeks--all under the title ONION!
Each one is different and has its own unique flavor.
Onions can be started from seeds, bulbs or plants, depending on the
variety. They can be planted in rows, blocks or along the edge of
flower or ornamental gardens.
I am not going to deal with all the onions. More information
can be obtained in gardening books or catalogs. I may develop this
page more later but for now I will stick with a few varieties. I
believe a book could be written about growing onions.
Onion bulbs can be planted in early spring. Cover with 1 inch
of soil and side dress with 1 lb. of 10-10-10 per 20 sq. ft. |
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Spring Onion Bulbs
(Click on thumbnail picture to view
enlargement)
These bulbs are available at stores selling spring seeds and
plants. I prefer the white as they tend to be a little
sweeter. I plant very thick, scattering the bulbs in a row almost
as close together as I can get them. I harvest them as spring
onions as soon as the stems are the diameter of a pencil. We eat
them too fast to allow them the privilege of growing big and strong!
Cooking Onions 
- Oversize Bulbs of Red, White or Yellow.
These do not make good spring onions but give a head start if you
want to grow larger onions.
All onions have about the same sugar content, but pungent onions
contain more sulfur compounds, which give them their characteristic
bite. The amount of sulfur compound in an onion depends on its
genes. Sweet onion varies such as Granex, Sweet Spanish, Texas
Sweet, have low sulfur potential but need to have specific environmental
conditions to develop their full sweet potential. There has be be
a careful balance of heat, daylight hours, soil conditions and
moisture. Vidalia Onions pose a different problem as the sulfur
content of the soil is very important. Georgians claim that only
the soil conditions in Vidalia, Ga. are exact for raising true Vidalias.
Long Keepers
These bulbs produce medium size, yellow onions that keep well
when hung in a shed for winter eating. |
®
Hertzler
Farm
and Feed Inc.
