Four Things You Will Learn About Onions

The onions are safely stored for later in the autumn. We can look forward to stews, shepherd's pies and roast mixed vegetables (not all together) during October until Christmas. Yum, yum.

August 3rd: Growing away grand

Starting back in mid-April, I sowed a bag of sets (approx 100) on the raised vegetable bed nearest the shed. The summer was kind to them and so was I. Being raised helped me greatly to keep them weed-free, and I tended them according to the instructions together with some experience. Watering and feeding were kept up regularly. In fact, the area had been well-fertilised last winter and that helped greatly too.

August 30th: Lifted and ready for drying in glasshouse

I watched and waited patiently towards the latter half of August, and whipped them out at just the right time. I laid them to dry on newspaper (the Examiner) in the glasshouse, and when I checked today it was clear that the stems (are they stems?) had dried sufficiently to direct me to the final step. I plaited them in bunches, tied with string, and hung them in the cool darker section of the shed.

September 13th: Tied and ready to be stored

It has been my first year doing onions for quite a while, perhaps ten years ago. Job done now, and done well. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Variety: .......
Planted: April
Lifted: August 30th
Stored: September 13th
Quality: Very good

Now for my personal slant on onions:

Felt the urge (I did, yes) to go looking for some funny onion stuff on the web, followed by some deep onion stuff: Here are four important things to know about onions, together with a picture here and there to keep me entertained:

• (1) A woman always has half an onion left over, no matter what the size of the onion, the dish or the woman.― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

Finally, to get some balance, here's two thoughts of a different slant:

• (2) If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. (Cicero) I took some time to get a picture of that into my head...

Cicero was right

• (3) Bit by bit, Dr. Driscoll helped me to peel away the layers of protection I had built up over the years. The process was not that unlike the peeling of an onion, which also makes us cry. It has been a painful journey, and I don't now when it will end, when I can say, “OK, it's over.” Maybe never. Maybe sooner than I know. I recently told Dr. Driscoll that I feel the beginnings of feeling OK, that this is the right path. ― Charles L. Bailey Jr., In the Shadow of the Cross (At the tender age of ten, Bailey became a victim of continuous sexual abuse by his family's Roman Catholic priest.) Amazon link

• (4) Then, if it's more oniony quotes you want, here's the place to go...

Note for next year:

• Use bed 1
• Plant three packets, as opposed  to one this year. I had bought two, but did not have enough room & wasn't organised to plant the second
• Have a look around to see if there's any onion that could be sown in late summer / autumn to be ready for early summer?