How to dry and store onions for winter
The unpatented Soilman Onion Preservation Process, in steps:
1. Pull up onions. Leaving the stems on, pile them in a heap under glass/plastic for about 10 days
2. When the stems have dried and shrunk, cut them off about three inches above the bulb proper
3. Leave onions for another month or so, until fully dry
4. Peel off the loosest papery skin and store in mesh bags, suspended from the ceiling in a cool, dark place
Works for me.
Thanks for the help. I was wondering. We pulled up about 10 pounds this week. Now I know what to do with them.
July 23rd, 2011 at 2:13 am
The bad news, Kevin:
Whitefly = very hard to beat
The good news:
In a normal year (ie not too hot and dry), whitefly don’t do much damage and can be ignored.
The problem is the hot years. Whitefly play havoc with brassicas in warm weather, and must be dealt with. I spray with a solution of horticultural soap.
It’s tricky, because you have to thoroughly wet every leaf and repeat every fortnight or so. But it’s organic and it works.
July 24th, 2011 at 8:32 am
whitefly easy, interplant with lots of marigolds, u may see the odd one flying about but they mostly leave altho not sure why.
works for me 🙂
July 25th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Gorgeous onions. This year, I tried growing potato onions for the first time, but I’ve discovered the bigger ones immediately begin to rot. Perhaps I didn’t cure (or whatever one calls it) them well enough. The glass/plastic step is new to me–I’ve been drying them hanging in the shed.
August 1st, 2011 at 6:07 pm
My husband cut off all the stems (on our onions) Will they still dry and store properly?
August 4th, 2011 at 4:06 am
I love it that you got the blame in early there, Angie! “He done it, not me!”
Don’t worry, they should be fine… provided he didn’t cut the stems off too close to the bulb. You really want to leave a few inches for safety.
August 4th, 2011 at 4:38 pm