On Onions

On onions:

There are 4 ways to get your onions in the ground; direct seed, start seeds indoors, onion sets and onion plants. With direct seed the temperature in the soil needs to be fairly warm, warmer than now.  Starting seeds indoors is easy and you get the best, consistent results. I use potting soil in Cool Whip containers. Poke a few holes in the bottom, place on a plate, water well and place it on top of your fridge for a constant temperature. I usually start them 5-8 weeks before I plant them outside (2-4  weeks before expected last frost).  My favorite variety to grow is called Ailsa Craig and produces monster onions that are fairly good keepers. They happen to be named after a Scottish isle. Next up are onion sets that are easy to purchase at your local garden center. Just poke them in the ground as deep as 2-3 times their diameter.  They will emerge in a couple weeks. You can use them young as green onions and the ones you leave after they are thinned you can let grow big.   However sometimes they go to seed. With purchasing bundled plants you have to be careful.  Make sure they are fresh!  A few times, and probably this time, I have  purchased them when  the roots have started to rot. Have any of you had this same experience?

 

 

When To Start a Garden- NOT All at Once!

With the changes wrought by the Covid19 virus many more people are thinking about starting or getting more serious about gardening. I want to do my part by dispelling some gardening misinformation and sharing my knowledge and experience. I have been gardening since I was, as my mother used to say, "knee high to a grasshopper". There is always more to learn in this most rewarding of hobbies! Many people here in the Spokane area of the Inland Northwest say that you shouldn't plant your garden until the snow is melted off Mount Spokane. So wrong on so many levels (unless you have low lying, poor draining soil). First of all there is a essentially 5 different times that are appropriate to plant different types of seeds or starts. The earliest planting time is several weeks before the last frost (May 1-15th here in Spokane) when the ground can first be worked. Things that sprout easily are spinach, radishes, beets and lastly potatoes (because they are planted so deeply). I did all this a couple of weeks ago.

Yesterday I transplanted by broccoli starts with collars made of half of a yogurt container to block those pesky cut worms. In between I planted onion sets that I will harvest young as green onions. Broccoli (and all its relatives) make excellent companion planting with anything in the onion family. More on onions next post.

So get out there and let's get gardening!