If there's anything I love as much as heirloom tomatoes, it's anything from the Allium family. Onions, garlic, leeks — me likey. Me likey a lot. One of my favorite parts of making soup (although, to be honest, they're all my favorite parts) is the first 8 minutes when the aromatics are simmering in their butter bath. Mm mmm mmmm.
Last year, I was mighty sad when I used up my last onion long before it even had time to go rotten or sprout — cleary, I didn't grow enough. Not the case this year. No sir. I've committed considerable area in my gardens to alliums: 3 varieties and over 4 dozen onions, 2 varieties and 6 dozen garlics, a dozen shallots, 2 varieties and 2 dozen leeks. (And actually, I'm not done — as I mentioned in a previous post, I secured a spot in a community garden, where I'll be planting even more onions and shallots. I ordered onion plants, which come in bundles of 50-75, so, I have plenty leftover from the Spring planting.)
In the meantime, I thought I'd share my photos of how I plant my onions. Most folks, I imagine, dig skinny trenches, line the plants in the trenches, then scrunch together the soil in the trench to fill in the gap. But since I don't plant things in rows, I have to improvise.
Last year, I was mighty sad when I used up my last onion long before it even had time to go rotten or sprout — cleary, I didn't grow enough. Not the case this year. No sir. I've committed considerable area in my gardens to alliums: 3 varieties and over 4 dozen onions, 2 varieties and 6 dozen garlics, a dozen shallots, 2 varieties and 2 dozen leeks. (And actually, I'm not done — as I mentioned in a previous post, I secured a spot in a community garden, where I'll be planting even more onions and shallots. I ordered onion plants, which come in bundles of 50-75, so, I have plenty leftover from the Spring planting.)
In the meantime, I thought I'd share my photos of how I plant my onions. Most folks, I imagine, dig skinny trenches, line the plants in the trenches, then scrunch together the soil in the trench to fill in the gap. But since I don't plant things in rows, I have to improvise.
 I love the Candy Hybrid and Walla Walla varieties. They're sweet, so they don't store well, but frankly, they won't be around long enough to overwinter.... |  I found a piece of doweling in my garage, just the right width to "drill" some holes. A conveniently placed bar code on the dowel provides a visual guide for the correct depth. |
 I had previously turned over and amended this bed, so the soil was quite fluffy and diggable — creating all the holes across the entire bed was quick work, especially with the bar code depth guide. |  I dug the holes first so I could eyeball the layout and make sure everything is nicely spaced before committing the plants to their homes. |
 A Candy Hybrid prepares to get all snuggly in his new home. |  Voilá! Some 2 dozen onions went into this bed. Cayenne and de Arbol peppers (for making ristras) will also share this sunny, front yard spot once the last frost date (May 15) passes. |
Neat! I love all the varieties you are growing. They look amazing.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteThis will be perfect for the kids square-foot beds at Dirt to Dinner. Thanks for sharing your method. They'll love it.
Juli
I really appreciate you posting this. I was at the garden store yesterday and when I saw a lone pot of white spanish onions I bought them on a whim because I had read this about planting onions! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJuli - kids big and small love pokin' holes in dirt. ;) (I know I do! And because the dowel happened to be fairly long, it saved a lot of wear and tear on the back...)
ReplyDeleteShannon - ahhh, the impulse buy. My favorite. I bought a bunch of red onions this year at Home Depot ... on impulse. They're in another bed not shown; I'm going to be positively buried in onions this year.
Karen