Today's humbling experience involved onions. Last summer was the first summer that I've ever planted onions. I had purchased a bag of little onion sets from a greenhouse, not really paying any attention to them except that they were yellow and looked like they were in decent condition. And I paid even less attention to these poor onions once they were placed in the ground. Miraculously, I actually had a fairly decent onion harvest this year. Others in our area had trouble with their onions due to the amount of rain we had, but I guess that's one benefit of having a garden bed that is essentially sitting above a bed of gravel - plenty of drainage! So I had onions to add to my spaghetti sauce and plenty to store for use this winter. I have about a dozen left and they're just starting to show some signs of aging. So I'd like to plant some more next year, learn how to care for onions, and learn how to store them more effectively.
When I placed my order at Johnny's Selected Seeds, I included a well researched order for "Candy" onion sets, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise today to find my order included a packet of onion seeds, not sets. I guess I should have noticed that when I placed my order.
So now my question is, what does one do with onion seeds?
Start them! I don't have much experience growing onions and I've never actually bought sets, but I have started "bunching onions" from seed and had nice continuing crops for a couple of years thereafter. They are slow to germinate, but they'll get there. You've got plenty of time. Give it a try! There should be good instructions on the packet, since they're from Johnny's. That reminds me: I think I'll start seriously planning my garden today. Gonna try broccoli for the first time this year.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't have anything to lose! Good luck with the broccoli! I love fresh broccoli, once I get past the little green worms. I prefer not to use pesticides, but I know you can get a powder to put on them that deters the white butterflies from laying their eggs on them (and giving you those little green worms).
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