{"id":36080,"date":"2017-08-16T09:55:40","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T13:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=36080"},"modified":"2017-08-16T10:03:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T14:03:12","slug":"fresh-from-the-spring-farm-onions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/fresh-from-the-spring-farm-onions\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh from The Spring Farm: Onions"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Jenny

Jenny Spring<\/p><\/div>\n

By Jenny Spring<\/em><\/p>\n

Right now at market you will find mild-tasting, sweet summer onions.<\/p>\n

Onions are a cold-season crop, easy to grow because of their hardiness. We plant onions early in the spring and harvest in mid-August and fall after their tops begin to turn yellow and fall over.<\/p>\n

I start my onion seeds as early as January or February in my house. They are then grown in a greenhouse in March and then transplanted outside in the spring. I start harvesting green onions in the spring and each week they get a little bit larger.<\/p>\n

My all time favourite onion is the sweet Walla Walla onion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gardening Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plant onions as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, usually late March or April. Select a location with full sun where your onions won\u2019t be shaded by other plants.<\/p>\n

Soil needs to be well-drained, loose, and rich in nitrogen; compact soil affects bulb development.<\/p>\n

Till in aged manure or fertilizer the fall before planting. Onion plants are heavy feeders and need constant nourishment to produce big bulbs.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

At planting time, you can mix in some nitogen fertilizer, too, and side dress every few weeks until the bulbing process begins.<\/p>\n

Seeding? Onion seeds are short-lived. If planting seeds indoors, start with fresh seeds each year.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Think of onions as a leaf crop, not a root crop. When planting onion sets, don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

To put energy into the bulb to grow big, I give the tops a hair cut every couple of week. I just cut off the top green stems.<\/p>\n

Practice crop rotation with onions.<\/p>\n

Like garlic, you have to dry out (cure) the onions before eating them. I dry them in the barn for a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

\n

Recipe<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Onion Rings (photo and recipe by theviewfromthegreatisland.com)<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\"Who

Who doesn’t love onion rings? (Image: theviewfromthegreatisland.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Onion Ring Ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n