Enduring onions

One day, maybe, we will learn to grow large onions, as large as promised on the packaging for sets we poke into the ground.  That is the extent of my complaints about my onions.  They grow reliably, resist diseases and pests, are edible at different stages, can be harvested with fingertip strength, and have a shelf life (bulbs only) if treated well.

The first stage of bulb curing is a day or two on the ground where they were yanked.  Why?  I have not a clue.  Still, I do this.

The next step is to give them good all around air exposure for about two weeks.  The major soil chunks should be removed at this point, gently.  In the past, I have hung them on the clothesline to cure.  I can't quite achieve all of the recommended conditions - no direct sunlight, good air flow, protection from rain, warm but not too hot - so I choose a couple of them.  Because I was leaving town for several days early in the curing period, I placed them on a wire rack in a shady corner under a narrow awning.  (The photo is indeed of curing garlic bulbs.  Pretend they are onions.)  






After peeling off the flaky outermost skins, this is what we had.  Small shiny yellow onions.  They are in a plastic bag merely for display, and perhaps weighing, purposes.  They must not be left this way.  The onions were stored in a kitchen drawer (short term) and in an open cardboard box in the (semi)cold room in the basement (longer term).











Barry just sliced an onion or two for the salad.  We have four left, in excellent condition, in the middle of January.  I no longer care if our onions are a bit short in the radius.  If they are going to keep like this, I will just plant more sets in the spring.  Problem solved.