Showing posts with label heirloom onion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heirloom onion. Show all posts

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Kitchen Garden / Winter Gardening / Raised Bed. Progress Report. 2.22.14

Covered Tunnel Version 3.  Step 1.

Covered Tunnel Version 3.  Step 2.
Topset Onions Germinated
Radishes and Turnips Germinated
I removed the row cover from the winter vegetable bed.  This bed was planted 1.28.14 so is just under one month after planting.

I originally used polyethylene cover.  That collected rain and collapsed.  I replaced that with permeable row cover.  That collected snow and collapsed.

Meanwhile, there were freezes into the 20s, and a blizzard.

When I removed the row cover, I saw the radish seeds and turnip seeds had germinated.  A few spinach seeds germinated.  Chinese mesclun germinated nicely.  I did not see any cabbage plants.  The topsets from Egyptian Walking Onions were about an inch tall.  Those were unusually small sets I had in the garage.

I didn't weed this time although it could use weeding.  One of the main challenges is vermin, including slugs, voles, rabbits, mice, and others.  So far these seedlings were not eaten.  Although maybe the cabbage seeds germinated and were eaten.

I watered with diluted fish emulsion as a vermin repellent.  Then I applied a dusting of hot pepper / dried blood for the same reason.  Then I added organic slug bait.

The mouse traps were not set off, but mouse traps in the garage had 3 of 4 traps with mice.  So I moved those to the garage.

I went back to a polyethylene row cover.  This time I used wire fencing as a support.  That will prevent pooling of water / collapse.  I should get a larger sheet so I can weigh down the sides with bricks.  Wind might otherwise catch it.  I changed to the polyethylene again because I think it will hold in more heat, and maybe it is more light permeable as well.  It will stay more dry, which is probably good although it might wind up needing some watering.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Onions, garlic, shallots.

Green onions from Egyptian Walking Onions
 Nice to have some scallions from the garden this time of year.  These were Egyptian Walking onions, that I did not pull out.  They resprouted and are beginning to be big enough to eat.

The onion bed is starting to grow.  Planted roughly 5 weeks ago.  At the end is a row of cilantro, about an inch tall, planted the same time.  The Egyptian Walking onions are all up.
Onion bed at one month
 The Yellow Potato onions are starting to grow.  Most are still not showing above ground.

The garlic, planted about 4 weeks ago, is several inches tall.  Right on schedule.

Yesterday I cleared out a 3-foot by 4 foot section of the tomato bed.  I added 1/2 bag of chicken compost, and planted shallots.  The shallot starts were saved from this summer.  I planted 4 rows.  That is from the original 2 rows.  About the same amount is available for eating.  Starting them later this year.   These shallots might have been larger, if I didn't let them go to seed.  The honeybees loved the flowers, so I didn't want to remove the flower heads.
Garlic bed at one month

Holland White Shallots

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Raised Beds. Progress report.

Here are the raised beds now. I added another this weekend. Planted the new bed with Snow Peas Oregon Giant, Bok Choy, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Onion sets, between the onion sets planted Evergreen Bunching Onion seeds - packaged for 2011, might not grow. Also Swiss Chard 5-color Silverbeet, Beets Detroit Red, and Chinese Cabbage, Napa variety. Most of the rows are short, 2 foot rows. The Snow Peas and onions are full 4 foot rows. Also a row of mixed color Ixia. For color. The allium raised beds, planted last fall. Growing by leaps and bounds. Amazing to this small town Illinois boy, a garden with rapidly growing plants before March first. Garlics are about 1 ft tall. Shallots about 6 inches, White Potato Onions about a foot, and Egyptian walking onions about 6 inches. Illinois Chinese chive is about 2 inches and Changchun Chinese Chive is about 1 inch but thicker and sturdier and growing faster now. The Chinese Chive seedlings from last fall have reappeared, I think, although those might be seeds I planted last month.

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Winter Gardening, continued

Planted some seeds in the first "Conastoga" bed. That includes spinach, icicicle radish, napa cabbage, bak choy, seeds from garlic chives.  Pic from Bok Choy, ink and color painting on paper by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927)
I found some unplanted sets for egyptian onions.  I don't need more, but not wanting them to go to waste, so planted them.
Also, in unprotected bed, Laburnum seeds collected last week from Laburnum tree. So those seeds were exposed for winter, and stratified in situ. Those are along one edge of iris bed. Along another edge, Chinese chive, my Illinois strain.

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Garlic, Shallots, Potato Onions. Progress Report.

Potato onions are almost all up, and 6 to 8 inches tall. The earlier ones are ahead of the later ones, by a few inches. Only one of the earlier ones has not sprouted. Several of the later ones have not sprouted. Egyptian Walking Onions are a little smaller but virtually all of them have also sprouted and grown to about 4 to 6 inches tall. The bed is a little weedy. I've been pulling weed seedlings. More of that effort is needed.
Inchelium garlic. I think it's at about 50% sprouted now. Keeping track of the growth will help me plan timing for next year. About half of the later-planted Inchelium garlic has also sprouted. Not clear the earlier planting is advantageous.
The german porcelain garlic. Growth is excellent. Next question will be, is faster growth more, or less, susceptible to the freezes to come.
The Holland Shallots are about 50% sprouted. The Safeway shallots are 0% = none have sprouted yet. I guess that's an effect of germination inhibitor, used for produce.. I wonder what germination inhibitors might do to the people who eat treated produce.

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Onion and Chive update. Raised bed.

Already, the Chinese chives are filling in with new leaves, stout and firm. The smaller, finer "Illinois rescue" garlic chives are filling in faster than the Chang Chun culinary Chinese chives.  The Egyptian Walking Onions have many new shoots as well - some 3 inches tall.  I think about 2/3 have started growing above the soil.  Fast. Both the bulbs and the topsets are growing fast. There are 2 bunches of cilantro that I planted a week or two ago.  Almost ready to eat.
The Yellow Potato Onions are sending up new shoots.  That's about 2 weeks?  No garlic up yet. I'm not greedy, they will grow in their own time.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Raised Bed. Fall planting onions, garlic, garlic chives

Half full. More trips around the area for mole hills. Several wheel barrows full. Piled in a layer of soil, then a layer of compost, then turned over, then watered, then repeated this routine for more layers until about 2 inches below the upper edge. Raked smooth.
The Starts I brought from home. It was a strange feeling - like getting starts from a friend or neighbor or relative, except they came from me.
Inchellium Red, from containers this year. I separated about 40 cloves, and wound up planting 35 of them. Should be enough, with a few heads to repeat next year if fate allows.
The separated cloves. These are very big.
Heads from Egyptian Walking Onions, sets ready to separate and plant. Most will be for scallions. I'll try to pull scallions to separate plants about 6 inches or a foot apart to repeat this cycle, too. Also for some fresh onions.
Garlic chives. I dug these from around the yard, where seedlings had taken root and grown. One batch is a rescue from my late parents' yard. I remember, I planted them as a boy, thinking they looked nice and not knowing they were edible. They persisted and reseeded, annoying my Dad but he was never able to get rid of them. I'm glad. Now I have this memory plant from my boyhood. It has smaller, more delicate leaves compared to the plants I've been growing. Those came from a seed packet from north China, most likely a commercial variety. They are about 4 generations of saved and replanted seeds, or self-sown. By mixing they 2 types together, maybe the next generation of seedlings will be in between. A little more hefty than my boyhood plants, a little more tender than the Chinese plants. I'm into genetic diversity, regardless.
All arranged. The garlic is about a foot apart, 7 X 5 = 35 cloves. The White Potato Onions are arranged similarly, except 7 X 6 = 42 plants. The Egyptian Walking Onions are in 3 narrowly spaced rows of about 15 per row, thinking most will be used for scallions. The garlic chives are in bunches, making a single wide row about 6 inches wide. They look kind of sad, but I think they will do OK, grow new roots, and generate nice plants for the Spring. I cut off the flower heads, but left the leaves, so they can photosynthesize during the fall and make roots and store energy for next Spring's crop.
All done. Doesn't look like much, but when the garlic and onions germinate, they'll make a nice neat garden bed. The blue tub was what I used last fall for the same purpose - multiple tubs. I planted it with more Egyptian Walking Onions, thinking they will grow faster in dark colored plastic container = warmer in the sun, and give scallions this fall. Experiment.