Man Over Onion

We all have at least one plant that refuses to like us, no matter what we do for it. Like a spoiled child, the onions got more than their share of attention, and every year gave me back nothing. I wrote about my broken heart in a past post [2011.06.26], with a photo of my thankless children. It seems that root crops do not like me. Radishes, carrots, potatoes (darn potato beetles) and onions. I wasn't going to take it any more.

This year carrots are growing in the back yard vegetable garden. Onions were planted in the front cottage garden, like recent years. Unlike recent years, these are something I can be proud of. And there are more larger ones still growing. So what happened?

First, I went back to onion sets instead of seeds. Not because I wanted to, but because it was too late to plant seed. Second, I purchased both red and yellow onions by weight from a local garden center where one could pick them out of large bins; meanning pick the best ones. Third, I enriched the soil more than usual (the soil is pretty good in that bed already) with manure and humus. I read somewhere (in my quest to find an answer to my none-ions) that rich soil and plenty of water is what they want. That leads me to the last point.

Thank climate change. Our springs over that past five years have all been abnormal in one way or another. This year, cooler temperatures and plenty of rains helped me out. (I think last year was our desert highland spring, while this year was the Pacific northwest spring.) everything is growing like gangbusters -- even the weeds.

But, I like to think I triumphed over the onions. Now on to those carrots.

For The Record:   • Rich, well-drained soil   • Full sun   • Humus and manure fertilizer at planting, slow release fertilizer during growth   • No serious pests/disease Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: nicotiana, cleome, cosmos, lily, daylilies, rose,     astilbe, hosta, rudbeckia, echinacea   • Harvested: 2 onions

None-nions

Onions and radishes are two vegetables that I cannot grow well, (except for one year.) School kids can grow radishes, but I can't. Every year I try and every year the result is a row of plants with red roots but no radishes.

This year's onion crop was ready for harvesting this weekend, when the onion tops stopped growing and wilted over. The largest "none-nion" was the size of a quarter (2 cm).

Several years of purchasing onion sets and planting in different conditions around the yard gave the same paltry results. Two years ago I bought some red onion plants at a local high school booster club spring plant sale. I grew in with the front flower garden and produced respectable onions, so I tried planting red onions from seed last year. I bought Red Burgundy, an heirloom onion that is a short day (100 days) variety suitable for southern states. They were planted in the same successful spot, but the largest onion was a ping-pong ball size (3 cm). Most were marbles.

This year, I started the seeds earlier, and planted earlier, thinking the hot weather previously did them in. They matured earlier and were smaller. It was suggested that I try direct sowing onion seeds in the fall, so I will try something new. How do the farmers at the farmers market do it?

I am about to give up on "30-day" radishes, or give seeds to the local school children to grow for me.

For The Record:   • Rich soil amended with humus and peat   • Full sun   • Organic slow-release fertilizer   • No pests or diseases Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: pink cosmos, rudbeckia, small poppy, liatris, cleome, cosmos, geranium, nicotiana, calendula, echinachea,     daylily, salvia, daisy, spiderwort, loosestrife, bachelor buttons   • Harvested: 14 onions, red leaf lettuce, red romain lettuce