July 22, 2021: So I picked a few onions today…
I wish I could say that I just threw these in the ground and never gave them another thought-but that would be a lie. I weeded and fertilized religiously, covered them with a sheet of plywood when a hailstorm threatened, and checked them every morning for signs of bugs, disease or failure to thrive. For almost six months I babied them. I was onion-obsessed. Now it’s harvest time and they’re fabulous and I can’t believe how stupid I am.
For some reason I was under the impression that Ailsa Craig was a good storage onion. It is not! I repeat, it is not! The storage potential is less than three months. My dreams of a midwinter root cellar overflowing with onions are dashed.
I’m going to go through the curing process anyway. Three months is better than nothing. I guess I’ll be freezing the rest. Or drying. I’ve never done that but now would be a great time to try, I think.
Anyway, I’m going to let them cure in the sun for a few days and then I’ll cut away the leaves and the roots and weigh them. I’m hoping for about fifty pounds.
July 29, 2021: So I let them dry in the sun for a week, and this is what they look like now. I can’t leave them outside any longer because rain is in the forecast for the next week or so. I’ve got to clean them up and get them in the house.
And here they are! I removed the leaves and roots and weighed them and now I have a horrendous headache from onion fume inhalation. It was worth it, though. I was hoping for fifty pounds, but I got eighty! Woo Hoo!
The onions in the basket will be taken into the basement and spread out on a table to (hopefully!) dry out a little more. The ones sitting on the deck are a little soft in spots so I’m going to cook those right away.
While they’re cooking I’m going to start planning next year’s onion crop-this time I’ll make sure it’s one with good storage potential.
