On Onion Harvesting and Curing

The main reason I'm writing this blog is so I will remember things from one year to the next. It is my garden journal. Most of my mornings are spent in the yard; planting, harvesting, tying up, cleaning up. I run between what I see in the garden and my computer to look up stuff on the internet; what's that bug, that plant, when to harvest, what do I have growing there again (?!?). This week I harvested a lot of onions, and this is what I've learned.

You can pick onions at any time; young onions are called "green onions", and you can eat from one tip to the other; medium onions are called "spring onions", and you can eat the bottom (root) part, which has started to get bigger \ fatter \ bulb-ier, and some of the green; mature onions are called "bulb onions", and you eat the bulb only.

Bulb onions can either be eaten "green", right out of the garden, or they can be cured for storage.

The trick - some say the art - comes next; knowing when to stop watering.

The longer your bulb onion is in the ground, the larger it will get. However, once they stop growing, you need to stop watering them, so they don't rot because they are no longer taking in the water.

Conventional farmers watch for the leaves to fall over. In a field planted with the same kind of onions, all the onion leaves \ greens will fall over at the same time, signaling that the onions have stopped growing, and to stop watering. In an urban farm, where the crops are often interplanted, that's impossible.

So, you need to feel the shaft of the onions, down near the bulb, and if it feels squishy \ soft, you need to pull that onion today, before you water again, and begin the curing process. The onion in the picture to the right was harvested this morning. The greens have not died back, but the shaft is soft - it bends 90 degrees.

Knock off the excess dirt. Lay the onion out on the ground, or on a screen, in the shade. After a day or two, when the roots are dry, you can trim off the stems, but no less than 1" from the bulb.

If your onions are 2nd year onions, they very likely will have had scapes. When you harvest onions with scape stems, separate that from the bulb. That is where the moisture will concentrate, and your bulb will rot if you don't separate them.

Onions take up to 3 weeks to cure properly. The point is to dry them slowly in order to concentrate the flavors. Keep them in the shade, keep them where the air is circulating. Once they are cured, theoretically they can be thrown in a box and kept in the dark. Last year we tied them up in pantyhose (knot in between each bulb) and hung them from the ceiling. This year most of them are in a basket and seem to be ok so far. Check them periodically to pull any that have gotten soft.

Or (see last week) make them into chutney!

 Onion Chutney !!



We are awash in onions, and there are more to come. We have been grilling them, sauteing them, and broiling them. It's time to preserve some for later. One of my favorite recipes comes from one of my favorite books, The Herbal Pantry, by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead. I have found their Tomato Chutney recipe works just great with onions instead of tomatoes. Sweet and spicey and tangy, and the galoot loves it.

3 lb. onions, chopped - whatever you have; this time I used Siskiyou Sweets and Red Bottle

1 c brown sugar
1 c cider vinegar
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T fresh ginger, grated
1/2 c cranberries
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a large non-aluminum saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, about 30 min.

Sterilize the canning jars by boiling them for 10 mins. Separately, cover the jar tops and rubber rings with water, bring to a simmer, and turn off the heat. Let the jars and tops sit in the hot water until you are ready to use them, then drain them on a clean towel.

Fill a large pot half full with water and bring to a simmer. Ladle chutney into jars, leaving some space at the top. Lower the jars into water and add more boiling water if needed to cover the jars by 1 in. Cover and bring to a boil for 15 mins. To test for a safe seal, lift the jar by the lid only. If the lid stays on, it is safe to put that jar on the shelf for up to 4 mos. 

If not, eat now!  Open jar will keep well in the refrigerator for a week or so.  Chutney is an excellent accompaniment to meats, but also is wonderful on sandwiches and veggies.

Go Vertical

In a small space, the best use of the land can often be to grow vertically. Some crops are obvious choices - beans will grow up just about anything if they get a chance - but many can be trained to grow up rather than out, with a minimum of work.

Growing up is especially easy for us, because we have had a structure of posts - and wires strung between them - since last year. Specifically erected to hold shade cloth, a pleasant surprise is how versatile you can be with dropping some string down from the grid above, just about anywhere.

Keeping in mind that vertical growth will cause shade, you will want to plan to take advantage of that. I have been thinking that if I had put in something - sunflowers perhaps? - on the extreme Western edge of the backyard, the squashes that are growing there would be a little more shaded. Why is it always hard to remember that, yes, it's going to get really, really hot?

The beans against the east wall of the back square, for instance, are only hanging on through sheer determination. That wall is a killer for absorbing the heat. I had thought the beans would shade the wall, but rather, it's taking them out.  Next year . . . melons? that have been in for longer?  Maybe they could get up and shade the wall before the extreme heat.

Sumer Is Icumen In

Summer, for the Southwest Gardener, starts in May. All month we've been pulling out the winter crops, and putting in the summer ones. At our last market of the season, on May 13, we took pink grapefruit, Meyers lemons, carrots, spring onions and beets, and we will continue to harvest the root crops for several more weeks, but now it has turned decidedly warm, and summer is right around the corner. The zucchini seeds are up and roaring. The eggplant have yet to come up, but they take longer. The melon patch is going to take over Manhattan.

In the meantime, the tomatoes, tomatillos and early melons are all starting to fruit. My main project this week was to stake those melon vines and tomatoes. We will need MUCH more string for the late melon patch.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Last week I sang a concert, had two rehearsals for said concert, went to two parties, had another rehearsal, had two rehearsal classes, hosted a guest lecturer, was part of two rehearsals \ interviews for a new music director - at one of which I sang solos - not to mention singing in church, and teaching and taking lessons.

This week I have one rehearsal at which there will be an interview for a new music director - I will sing solos - not to mention singing in church (2 services this week), and teaching (and taking) lessons and two rehearsal classes.

Next week I have two concerts, two receptions, two rehearsals, not to mention singing in church, and teaching lessons.

Life is getting somewhat complicated as we hurl ourselves to this end-of-semester time of year in the academic calendar.

It is busy on the farm, but nothing is ending.

This week was in the 80s and 90s, and we put up most of the shade cloth and lattice onto the grid system we installed last year. So much easier now the system is in place!

We also turned over one of the beds, removing and composting the bolted lettuce (saving some seed). We decided to remove the top 6 in. of dirt as well, and brought in newly composted dirt to mix in. This bed had been used for lettuce, two seasons in a row, and we felt there was likely very little nitrogen left in the dirt. We have planted a mess of melon seeds in the new bed and are looking forward to the new growth.

The peppers are coming on strong. They are about ready for their first harvest.

The tomatillos are getting larger every day - it seems like you can watch them grow. Need to find out what to do with them! (besides salsa verde, which I don't like).

The beans are starting to flower.

There are lots of carrots and onions that we've been picking and eating all along. 












Plus, some onions are going to seed and are simply beautiful.

The farm is always changing, transitioning, moving from one season into the next. But nothing ever feels like it's ending. There's always a new season to plan for, a new crop to grow, a new plot to dig, and seeds to save.

New Orchard !!

A couple of weeks ago we visited The Urban Farm - www.urbanfarm.org - and learned many things. But one of the major lessons is that you can grow fruit trees like a hedge; not too tall, not too round, but a continguous, fruit-bearing hedge. This caused a lightbulb to flash in our minds. What if we take out our cactus garden strip, at the front of the property, and replace it with an orchard? Several benefits; 1) maintain the privacy that we had been getting from the cacti, 2) more sunlight on the front yard by removing a few un-necessary trees, 3) much easier to maintain, 4) fruit-bearing instead of not producing anything.

Totally win \ win.  Only downside is it was a lot of work. And, we're not done, but we are well on our way to having an orchard with - so far - 3 types of oranges, one apple and one peach. And plenty of room to fill in with more trees as we're able. Our big spring project for this year.

                                                                              

Last year's big spring project was the erection of the support system for shade. This came in handy this week, as the temperatures soared to over 100. It was a breeze throwing up a few lattice pieces on top of the wires and fastening them down.

Water Deeply

It's April and it's beginning to get hot. Not "hot" as we know it in the coming months. Not "hot" as we will understand it next fall. April's hi temps are in the 90s - and next fall that will feel like a breath of fresh air. We know this, and yet it still feels hot to us, because it is a harbinger of what is to come. What you, depending on your bent, either relish or fear. I'm in the fear department.

Silly, because it is really so beautiful outside - absolutely the best wild flower season. My iris have bloomed for the first time ever. Last year they were moved into the bulb garden to get more sun, but didn't flower. This year they are glorious.

The heat signals a change in season for the plants as well. Some - like the lettuces and peas - are at the end of their run, and are bolting or dying. This week we started clearing out the beds of the spent plants. We transplanted what spinach was still viable, cut out 6 inches of the topsoil, dug underneath that to loosen the bed for new roots, added in good compost and dug that in deeply. Then we transplanted 3 Pontano and 1 Italian Red Pear tomato, planted seeds for Punta Banda and Nichols Heirloom tomatoes, and seeds for Sinahuisa chiles. I also sprinkled in a healthy dose of zinnia seeds - to combat white flies.

Other plants - like onions and peppers - have survived the winter and are starting to show the promise which will be harvested in the next couple of months. It is time to adjust the watering technique for these plants to a slow trickle to cause a deep soak. Roots grow into air pockets, which are identified to them by water flow. It's as if the water soaking through the dirt entices the root to grow into the cracks. A deep soak encourages the roots to grow deeply; away from the sun's hot rays and into the coolth of the earth.

Over the coming months we will employ more measures to avoid the sun's hottest rays. But for now it is enough to water deeply. FYI: March temps are in the 80s. April in the 90s. June = 100s. July = 110s and, yes - I kid you not - August can = 120s.  Uff da me.