So Bed #5 was only supposed to be occupied by sweet potatoes and pole beans this summer, but it was called upon during the onion emergency to support and sustain the extras that didn’t fit in Bed #2. And it did an admirable job. But now things are getting a little crowded. I’m going to pull these onions soon, like by dinnertime, even though they’re not fully mature. My husband wants french onion soup, and it seems silly to go out and buy the main ingredient when I have 150 or so of them in my yard. Besides, the sweet potatoes need room to grow.
I also put some of the extra onions in Bed #6, the salad bed. If I had ever doubted the importance of full sun in onion growing, I don’t anymore. Bed #6 gets part sun, at best, and the onions grown there were puny.
onions grown in part sun (Bed 6) 
onion grown in full sun (Bed #5)
The onion on the right, after removing the leaves and roots, weighed in at nine ounces, while the onions on the left, untrimmed, barely registered on the scale. The salad bed, while suitable for leafy greens that like a little afternoon shade, is no place for onions.