Salad Onions

Okay, so back to the plot.

As it's been a tough growing year, I had several non-productive areas, notably where the parsnips got washed away and the beetroot failed to germinate.

Rather than leave this areas looking bare and sad, I opted to do a late sowing of salad onions. A winter hardy variety that was so new, it wasn't even named.
Referred to as just Hi 08 527

I know that some people like to grow varieties with nice names, but I've never been a mainstream type of guy, and the thought of growing an onion called  Hi 08 527 rather appealed.



They've done rather well too. Good germination, strong, sturdy looking plants with bright white bulbs.

Not only do they look good on the plot and on the plate, they are quite a strong onion too.


All in all, a damned good result.

It's also been harvest time for the hops.

The Bramling Cross variety have done particularly well. They've all been picked and dried, ready for a new brew which will be detailed on my other blog next week.

Homegrown Hops

It will be Squash time next. Of the three varieties trialled, only one came up trumps. More on that soon.

Bangs For Your Buck

Very American I know, but I quite like the phrase. It's very apt for many plants on the plot. You plant one runner bean seed and you get shedloads in return. Likewise for courgettes, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes, one seed will reward you many times over. I like that, getting plenty of bangs for your buck.

Then there's onions. You plant one onion set and you get.... one onion.
Does this one onion taste any better than those you can buy in the shops? I mean, can you REALLY tell the difference like you can with other produce? I'm not convinced.
But, onions are expensive, so they're worth doing. Ah, there's a flaw in this argument too. Onions are cheap.

Mmm, so do I grow onions? Not really. Well, technically yes, but not really.

I certainly don't 'grow' onion sets - plonking baby onions in the ground and waiting for them to get bigger. Whoop de do. That's not growing, not in my book.

That's like buying some beer from the supermarket, looking after it for a bit, then pouring it into your glass claiming you've made beer. Yeah right.

I'm partial to a pickled onion you see, so I do like to grow my own, but I do mine from seed. They take time, but if you're doing it from seed, at least you can claim them as your own.

I sow a silverskin variety I picked up in France and they are dead easy to do. Stick the seed in the ground in mid/late August and leave them to it. They will germinate and establish before autumn sets in. All I do is thin them out prior to winter. Then, in February, I transplant them in their final position and wait for them to grow.

At this time of year. when there's not much effectively growing on the plot, it's encouraging to see the little blighters waiting to swell...