Onion Harvesting

[Meadowlark]

We've had a couple dry days here and it looks like we may have a few more coming...time to start the onion harvest.

Pictured are the red onions pulled and drying...about 110 onions. After the reds dry another day, I'll begin pulling the yellows...another 150 or so and slightly larger.

These onions could possibly grow some more. However, I learned a hard lesson last year that it is more important that the onions are well dried prior to storage than it is to try to get the last additional weeks of growth. Gotta take 'em when you can.

In our East Texas climate, dry days are hard to come by in early May and we can get caught in prolonged wet spells of many days caused by stalled cold fronts. That is what happened last year and as a result I had to put the water logged onions into storage without adequate drying which in turn caused the loss of many onions in storage before we could eat them....as a side note, one onion swelled to well over 4 pounds last year.

 

[oneeye]

Wow you got those fast and for good reason. I don't like the smell of rotten onions either. Meadowlark do you cut the tops off for storage or just braid them up?

 

[Meadowlark]

Yes, Oneeye, after they dry sufficiently which is normally two or three days in the sun, I cut the tops leaving about 1 inch and then move them into my storage shed.

 

[Meadowlark]

Harvest complete: 104 pounds of reds and 140 pounds of yellows, total of 244 pounds
Dried and clipped and ready for storage.

I found some handy little storage bags that hold three or four of the smaller onions and will make great presents and barter prospects and now have them hanging everywhere:

The bulk of them including all the larger ones go into my often used storage rack of wire and scrap lumber...but effective. These onions were very dry and very firm and I'm really expecting they will fulfil my goal of Thanksgiving dinner with onions from the garden in the dressing.

Next up about 200 pounds of red potatoes await harvesting.

 

[Durgan]

Impressive.

 

[headfullofbees]

Fine onions.