Category: onions

Onion harvest

CatherineLeave a comment

It is a true pleasure to admire my harvested onions, all cleaned and separated by color. I’ve been purchasing the Gardener’s Medley onions for the past few years from Fedco. It contains 150 little plants of white, red, and yellow onions. I plant them in one of the plots we have at the community garden. They really grow well. I think they would grow better if I watered them more often (goals).

These should really be hung up in a cool place for winter storage, but for now I’m enjoying having a huge abundance of homegrown onions to choose from for dinner.

Allium family

CatherineLeave a comment

This is my harvest of yellow onions on the Community Garden. I pulled them out of the ground because most were falling over. They are curing for a few days while the weather forecast is predicting warm and sunny.

Curiously, the red and white varieties are still growing and haven’t fallen over. Interesting.

Yellow onion crop

I decided to fill in the trough these leeks were growing in. I think the trough is supposed to aid in blanching the bottom of the leek plant to provide a longer white stem, good for eating. These plants finally look healthy, after a rough start from an overgrown pot of seedlings that I rescued.

Late-planted leeks

Spring day

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An exciting day at Cross Road Gardens. It really felt like spring, for the first time, I think. A burst of gardening energy, although I only really worked for a few hours.

Frilly pink Hazelnut bud
Dug about a pound of leeks from last year, stored under mulch
Planted peas and spinach under a relocated trellis
Seedlings: Brussels sprouts and red cabbage
Kale seedlings
Broccoli and leek, shallot, cippollini seedlings
Indigo seedlings looking fresh
Removed mulch covers from garlic
Garlic sprouts ready to grow

Starts

CatherineLeave a comment

I moved my seed starting schedule two weeks forward. I think I started too early last year.

So far, so good. My alliums have sprouted and some kale. Still waiting on celery leaf and indigo.

Left: a full tray of mixed broccoli.
Center from top: kale and cutting celery, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, alliums.
Right: a pot of indigo.

Today I planted brassica seeds: broccoli blend, Speedia Brussels sprouts, and Mammoth red cabbage. All Fedco.

Baby kale sprouts.
Alliums: King Sieg leeks and Cippollini onions.
Two kinds of shallots: Conservor and Big Ed’s.

Community garden planted

CatherineLeave a comment

I put the squash plants in at the community garden. Planting is done there! Now I’m waiting for the plants to do their thing while I nurture them as best I can.

Three rows of squash
Too small to see, but leeks are in the trench and Cippollini onions are to the left of the trench
Six rows of onion plants, one row of shallots

There’s also a nice perennial sunflower and echinacea plants, not in bloom yet.

It begins! 2020

CatherineLeave a comment

Twelve weeks (estimated) until last frost date for my zone (5b). I’m using May 8 as that date.

First seeds started

So we started seeds today. I’m trying to get more organized with my garden planning. I used a planting schedule from Johnny’s Seeds to plan out the indoor seed starting schedule week by week. First up, alliums:

  • Conservor shallots
  • Borrettana Cippollini onions
  • Bleu de Solaize leeks

We used our soil blocking tool and a potting mix composed with the following recipe:

  • 5 parts ProMix Growing Medium
  • 3 parts compost (Vee, left over from last year)
  • 1/2 part sand
  • 1/4 part azomite
  • 5 parts water

I sprinkled the seeds over the top of the blocks, then sprinkled more ProMix over the top and misted. The flat is on the kitchen floor for now, where the radiant floor heat can keep them warm.

Next week, I’ll start some celeriac and leaf celery. Maybe parsley. And I need to fill out my planting schedule with set-out dates and direct-seed dates.