Planting Perennial Onions and Onion Sets. 2.22.19

 Over the past week, I perused the "vegetable start" sections at a few local stores.  I brought home some starts for onions, shallots, and multiplier onions.  

Yellow Moon Shallots - from Fred Meyer, but looking up information these are also sold by Fedco, who state:  "also called Multiplier Onions, these beefy yellow bulbs feature the unique flavor of the shallot sisterhood... home gardeners love this allium that stores through to the next Jul".  These were kind of costly, and of the 7 or 8 sets per package, a few were wrinkled and dry, and a couple were moldy.  I had 2 packages, and wound up with a dozen viable-looking sets.   Still, I'm curious about trying to grow shallots again, so I planted them.  In the past, I started some shallots from the grocery store.  I may do that to, for comparison.

"Windmill" brand red onion sets.  These don't state what cultivar.  At the least, they should be good for scallions.  I bought them at BiMart. The sets look plump and healthy.  These are sourced in Canada.

Multiplier Onion Package.  2.22.19

"Windmill" brand multiplier onions.  Are these shallots?  Or potato onions?  I don't know.  They are sourced in Canada.  I decided to give them a try.  The sets look healthy and plump.  Much more so thatn the Yellow Moon shallots.  These are also from BiMart.

It seems like an odd time of year to be planting but I did anyway.  I have to do what I can, when I can.  I think these will be hardy to whatever remaining, probably mild, winter conditions that we have.  Some multiplier onions can be planted in fall, so maybe these will do OK.

Of course, there are still those onion seedlings that I'm growing in the window sill.  We eat a lot of onions and scallions.  They will not go to waste.

Red Onion Sets.  2.22.19

Last year, my biggest challenge for onions was deer and rabbits.  These are in a fenced area.  I hope that is adequate.  Slugs can also be an issue.  I will start slug bait as soon as growth emerges.

Multiplier Onions Sets in Package.  2.22.19

Red Onions Sets in package.  2.22.19

Yellow Moon Shallot Sets.  2.22.19

Multiplier Onions as placed in rows, ready to be covered in soil.  2.22.19

The onion bed, planted, ready to grow.  2.22.19