Onions, onions and more onions

From the country...

onion seed

Fresh harvested Red Tropeana Lunga onions

I have professed my undying love for growing/eating/cooking/preserving onions for a long time now. This year I have upped that love and have gone large with growing onions in a big way. Half of my crops this year are onions. I have red onions, torpedo onions, chipolini onions (both red and white), various varieties of green onions, yellow multiplier onions, Stuttgarter onion sets (a German cooking onion) and shallots.

The fancy onions I have grown from seed. The seed was started in March and are just now becoming ready to harvest. It is a bit of a commitment but well worth the wait- not to mention I think I may have figured how to grow onions well. I have this picture in my head of baskets upon baskets of onions in all of their oniony glory at our market table.  I may even have an onion out their that could be a red ribbon winner for largest onion at the local agricultural fair this year. Just saying...

Once Upon An Onion Crop....

From the country... Cippolini onions, bunching onions, pearl onions, shallots, multiplier onions, and yellow onion sets. With names like; Red Creole, Barletta, Red Marble, Borrettana, Ramrod, and Summer Isle. Yep, I LOVE onions. I love sowing the seed, planting the set, plucking them from the soil, and eating them in all their various forms. There is something about growing alliums that makes me weak in the knees but I might have gone a bit overboard on them this year. I have my work cut out for me, not to mention the fact that I have blown the budget on these sharp little devils. I can't wait to see their wispy green hairs break the soil. I can't wait for the first green onion, the first taste of fresh grilled onion, and storage onions nestled in their mesh bag in the pantry. So to my friends and family, I apologize now because come the summer/fall I will definitely have a bad case of onion breath.