Onions

Today I bought three bunches of onion sets. I planted two bunches last year and really enjoyed the fresh onions, so I increased the onion crop. I planted some of the Yellow Granex around the freshly transplanted Romaine lettuce plants as shown in the picture to the right. My plan is to harvest this type green as they are maturing. This row will then be put into service in the summer garden.

The other two types, Southern Belle Red and Yellow 1015, I will leave to maturity because they are better varieties to store. I planted some of each of these two varieties in rows which are prepared and waiting for spring planting. I used this method last year. It worked well to grow young tomato plants in the center of the row and onions around the outside. By the time the tomato plants were producing, the onions were all harvested and dried.

I have a row of onions which were planted in October from seed. This row has shallots growing in the center. I read that in order to produce really large onions, one needs to start them from seed. I am curious to compare the production of the onion sets compared to the seeds.

This is a good place to mention that the Garlic Chives have really suffered from the cold this winter. I have two 4' x 4' beds of garlic chives. I plan to move them this season.