Onions: Time to Plant this Nutritional Superstar

Time to Plant this Nutritional Superstar

Onions (Allium cepa L.) also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. They are a cold-season crop, easy to grow and hardy. It is best to plant them as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, usually late March or April when temperatures generally do not fall below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Most gardeners will recommend using onion sets, which can be planted without worry of frost damage and have a higher success rate than direct seed or transplants. For sets or transplants, plant the smaller sets 1 inch deep, with 4 to 5 inches between each plant and in rows 12 to 18 inches apart.

Planting tips for a successful harvest:

• Select soil with full sun that is well-drained, lose, and rich in nitrogen.
• If starting with seeds then start them indoors about 6 weeks before planting for best result.
• Plant bulbs in the ground late March or early April and plant and in rows 12 to 18 inches apart.
• Onions grow well on raised beds or raised rows at least 4 inches high.
• Think of onions as a leaf crop, not a root crop. When planting onion sets, don’t bury them more than one inch under the soil; if more than the bottom third of the bulb is underground, bulb growth can be restricted.
• Practice crop rotation.

Care tips:

• Fertilize every few weeks with nitrogen to get big bulbs. Cease fertilizing when the onions push the soil away and the bulb process has started.
• Generally, onions do not need consistent watering if mulch is used. About one inch of water per week (including rain water) is sufficient.
• Make sure soil is well-drained. Mulch will help retain moisture and stifle weeds.
• Cut or pull any onions that send up flower stalks; this means that the onions have “bolted” and are done.

Watering tips:

• There are several methods to watering your onions including furrow irrigation, drip tape, and overhead watering. Some farmers prefer furrow and drip tape irrigation systems as overhead watering can promote the spread of disease in your onion crop.
• You will want to water occasionally but thoroughly, applying about one inch of water each time.
• In a typical 12-week growing season, some farmers recommend irrigating with one inch of water once or twice a week depending on the amount of rainfall received.
• The furrow irrigation method encompasses “flooding the beds” in the furrows and allowing the plants to soak up water slowly and thoroughly. As a general rule, when the top of the bed is totally darkened by moisture, you have provided enough water to your onions.

Pests and disease tips:

• Onion Thrips are very small insects that usually require a magnifying lens to see and thrive in hot, dry conditions and are usually more damaging in areas where these climatic conditions prevail for most of the production season. A couple of treatments with insecticidal soap kills them.
• Onion maggots likes to lay its eggs at the base of plants and are usually a problem in very rainy periods. Cover your emerging onion crop with a fine mesh netting. Seal it by mounding soil around the edges.

Harvesting tips:

• When onions start to mature, the tops become yellow and begin to fall over. At that point, bend the tops down or even stomp on them to speed the final ripening process.
• Be sure to harvest in late summer, before cool weather. Mature onions may spoil in fall weather.
• Allow onions to dry for several weeks before you store them in a root cellar or any other storage area. Store at 40 to 50 degrees F (4 to 10 degrees C) in braids or with the stems broken off.

We recommend taking precautions with your onions. There are a variety of options available from fine netting and soapy water for organic options to insecticides and fungicides for harder to manage crop infestations and disease. Your local Country Store offers everything you need to get started with your onions from seeds, to bulbs, to several effective fungicides. The Country Stores also offer container gardening options for seed starters – Onions do best when started as a bulb indoors for 6 weeks.

Additional fun facts:

Onion varieties are classified into two categories:

Long-day, best in the North: Yellow Sweet Spanish long-day hybrid, large round shape, yellow-white.

Short-day, best for the South: Stuttgarter short-day variety sold in sets, early maturity with slightly flat shape, yellow.

And now we share our favorite onion recipe:

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time:4.5 hours

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter

4 large yellow onions, sliced and separated into rings

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cooking sherry

7 cups reduced-sodium beef broth

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

8 slices of French bread

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

1/3 cup shredded Emmental (Hard Swiss) cheese

1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onions until they become translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle onions with sugar; reduce heat to medium.

Cook, stirring constantly, until onions are soft and browned, at least 30 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir sherry into onion mixture and scrape bottom of pot to dissolve small bits of browned food from the pot. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Season to taste with sea salt; stir in thyme and bay leaf. Cover cooker, set on High, and cook 4 to 6 hours. If desired, set on Low and cook 8 to 10 hours.

About 10 minutes before serving, set oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven’s broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet.

Broil bread slices until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Combine Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses in a bowl, tossing lightly. Fill oven-safe soup crocks 3/4 full of onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl. Top with about 2 tablespoons of cheese mixture per serving.

Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

Enjoy your garden delicacy!

Contributed by Selene Muldowney, Marketing Assistant