Time to plant some onions!

Although it's just the first of March, it's not too early or too cold to get members of the Lilliaceae family in the ground. Of the genus, Allium, onions are actually bulbs that shoot up a stalk and create a beautiful ball-like blossom of tiny little flowers. This year, we're growing your basic yellow onions that get pretty big, smaller spring onions (scallions) and leeks.

An onion bloom

We started the scallions and leeks in the greenhouse several weeks ago. In the past couple of days we placed them outside the greenhouse so they could acclimate to the weather. We also bought small bunches of bigger yellow onions, which can be found at any home improvement garden center, nurseries or feed stores. These bunches consist of very small bulbs with tiny roots and a small section of stalk. While there are usually quite a few in the bunch, you could share some with a friend or family member and plant a few for yourself in any small home garden. They don't take up much room and need to be planted about a foot apart, although they could be planted closer.

You'll need well draining, loose soil. Ours is just regular garden soil with no particular amendments. It's important to plant the onions very shallowly, which will encourage their roots to develop more, bringing nutrients to the bulb and making it easier to pull up once it's ready for harvest. Onions must have a good supply of water throughout their growing season, but they're pretty drought tolerant and don't need to be soaked everyday. Mother Nature will probably take care of it for you, especially during spring months.


A row of yellow onion bulbs, planted about one foot apart in regular ole garden soil. Nothing fancy here.

If you've planted the onions shallowly, you'll be able to see them developing in the soil. They can be pulled and eaten anytime from this point on, and scallions will need to be pulled and eaten during spring. For the biggest onions, it's best to leave them in the ground until around June to ensure nice sized yellow onions, big enough to make delicious beer-battered fried onion rings, my favorite way to prepare them. We usually leave most of them until the top stalks start to dry out and turn brown. One of my favorite days in the garden is when we pull them all up, lay them out in the sun for a day or so to dry their outer layer, preserving the moist layers inside. We tie them up and store in a dark, dry place. They can last for months if done this way. I've gone through entire summer and fall seasons without having to buy any from the store! In my opinion, onions grown in the home garden, plucked from the soil and taken straight inside to be prepared have so much more flavor and provide a much more gratifying experience.