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Onions and Greens

Posted on March 19, 2011 at 10:18 PM

After weeks of heavy rains, high winds, and cooler than normal temperatures – Mother Nature finally took mercy on our area and gave us a beautiful sunshine filled day.   I had to run a few errands this morning but I got to them early in order to keep most of the day available for some garden time.   One of those errands was to pick up a bag each of layer crumbles and scratch grains for the hens from the local feed store.   The first of the baby chicks are in and I had to hang out for a few minutes just admiring the cuteness of the little fuzz butts!   While I was wandering around looking at the new chick arrivals, I noticed they also had a new shipment of some really nice looking organically grown Walla Walla onion plants.   I have plenty of onion plant starts going at home but could not pass up such nice looking plants and bought two bundles at $2 each.   Now the dilemma is where to put all the onions since I just doubled up on them with that purchase.           

             

 I got back home around 11 am and immediately put the plants that are in the process of being hardened off outside to enjoy some much needed sunshine.                          

   

    

    

     

 

Yes, those are onions (and leeks) in that last picture and there are quite a few of them.   I am pleased with the Walla Walla onions I purchased, but I really am in an oversupply of onion plants as a result.   In the bed that is designated for the allium crops this year, I planted up the Walla Walla onions and the leeks.   They completely filled the bed, so I am going to have to find another place for the other home grown onion starts.             

    

     

 

The rest of the afternoon was used to first replace the netting on the back section vertical grow structures.   I then placed some finished compost on the vertical grow bed and dusted on some organic fertilizer.   The broadfork was then used to quickly aerate the entire length of the bed, after which I then hoed and raked it smooth.           

      

     

 

Once the bed was prepped and ready for planting, I direct seeded half of it (front portion only as the back area is reserved for vertical crops) in spinach, and then planted up some of the pac choi, chinese cabbages, and lettuce starts. 

       

    

  

   

       

These plants were definitely ready to go into the ground, however, they were not as well hardened off as I would have liked so I placed a wire fence hoop over the bed and covered them with clear plastic to give them some additional protection at night.   During the day, I will pull the plastic back and let them continue to harden off.   After a few days I can pull the plastic off altogether and just let them grow on.               

  

    

 

Tomorrow I am going to plant up the broccoli and the oldest of the kale starts.   I want to plant the pea patch tomorrow as well.   If I have enough time, I will try and find a suitable home for the remaining onions too.          

   

Did you spend time in the garden today too?                     

 

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Categories: Transplanting, Hoop Covers, Seed Starting

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14 Comments

Reply Sandy
11:03 PM on March 19, 2011 
Today was a lovely day!

That's a whole lot of onions! I'm also a sucker for the inexpensive onion starts. Hopefully I'll be able to resist this year.

I'm also thinking about get a few chicks this spring. We have seven adult chickens right now and they are producing a whole lot of eggs. A few of the ladies are getting a bit long in the beak, though, so I'm thinking about added 3 - 4 more to the flock. Nor sure if I'll get chicks (and risk getting a rooster) or buy a few pullets after they have been sexed.

Here's hoping we get even a bit of good weather tomorrow to continue on with our spring gardening tasks!
Reply GrafixMuse
09:03 AM on March 20, 2011 
Oh wow, you are growing now. Well, at least you came home with onion plants instead of fuzzy butt chicks :) Good luck finding a home for the remainder of your onions. I don't think you can have enough onions because they can be harvested young as green onions.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:59 AM on March 20, 2011 
Sandy - It is alot of onions but honestly we use so much of them that I really can never have enough planted. My problem is just where to eek out more room for the others. I may end up tucking them inbetween something else - now the question is - which crop and where?

GrafixMuse - I showed tremendous will power leaving those chicks behind but those onions were another matter. They are a good three times thicker and further along than mine and I love Walla Wallas - so they had to come home with me. Not a good storage onion though - but I can chop and freeze them for keeping purposes and I really must find room for the storage variety I am growing out from seed.
Reply foodgardenkitchen
03:14 PM on March 20, 2011 
We're just like you! We had one box dedicated to onions and leeks. Then he saw some great onion starts at the garden store and couldn't pass them up. That bundle took up about 60% of a bed. The leeks took the rest of that bed; the onions we had going from seed took up a whole 'nother bed PLUS 5 good sized containers (and planted more densely than I would have if space was not an issue). I just can't bear to just throw something into the compost pile when it went through the effort to germinate :)

I don't know what we're going to do with all the onions if they actually all make onions. None are long storage varieties. I suppose I'll be figuring out freezing or canning techniques if necessary. Fortunately, the box the extra onions comandeered ended up being OK to take over; it had been designated for broccoli and caultiflower and we decided that the overwintered broc and cauli we have going would be plenty.
Reply Becky
03:57 PM on March 20, 2011 
Hi! :) I know it's been a while since I commented. My garden last year was such a disappointment and a disaster that I pulled back from all things gardening.
It took me a while this year but I'm finally ready to get into the garden spirit! I just got my spring garden planted and it feels great to dig in the dirt again.

Your garden is looking beautiful! I love your new fence. Chickens can really do a number on a garden, can't they? Hopefully that will keep them out when you're not there to babysit them.
The onions look great!
Reply Thomas
05:59 PM on March 20, 2011 
My onions were such a joke last year. Hopefully things will be different this time around. You did a great job of setting everything out. I love working outside this time of year.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
12:07 AM on March 21, 2011 
foodgardenkitchen - We must be onion twins! LOL! I found room for the rest of the onions today but had to do some juggling around of plantings to get it accomplished. Sweet onions are easily frozen - I just diced them up and freeze them in a singler layer on a cookie sheet until solid - and then put in gallon freezer zip lock bags. You can scoop out whatever you need for cooking and it works great. Of course they will not work for a fresh slice but for cooking it is ideal and very convenient.

Becky - Glad you are back in the gardening groove. We all have not so great garden years - some very dissappointing, but the great thing about gardens is that we get to start over fresh each year. :D

Thomas - I have good and bad onion years. Last year was "ho hum" but not awful. I am hoping for a great onion year in 2011.
Reply Daphne
06:52 AM on March 21, 2011 
Such nice plants. I can't wait to start planting outside. I might have to get my peas and spinach planted at least. All I need is some time.
Reply Mike
09:15 PM on March 21, 2011 
I can't wait to stick my hands in the good earth and plant the many seeds and seedlings that we have waiting. It is nice to see your beds starting to fill up, hope I come across a few walla walla onion starts this year...yours are looking good.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
09:08 AM on March 22, 2011 
Daphne - On Sunday I did some direct seeding and got the peas and some spinach planted too. From here on out I slowly but steadily fill up the garden - one bed at a time!

Mike - It really is a great feeling to get into the soil at the start of the growing season. The Walla Wallas were really stout and healthy which is why I could not pass them by. Sometimes the bundles are dried out and rather anemic - but these were in excellent shape and quite far along growth wise.
Reply dirtdigger
07:47 PM on March 22, 2011 
Everything looks really good, Laura. We've had high winds and cooler than normal temps- a little less sun too. Today was beautiful and I was able to put some babies outside to enjoy the day with me. When I lived in Portland I was able to only have one layer of protection- now that I'm in a colder climate I have to do what Eliot Coleman does- two layers. Nice tunnel you have there- make it into a chenille so you can just scoot the plastic up during the day and bring it back down at night- just zig-zag thin wire across the top to sandwich the plastic. Makes my life much easier and it can take more wind!

Happy spring to you!
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:17 PM on March 22, 2011 
Dirt Digger - The weather has been kind to me this week because the night time temps have been no lower than 39 degrees and I only left the cover on them for two nights before pulling it off altogether. Sunday I planted some broccoli, kale, and cabbages and they were hardeneed off enough that I did not even bother to give them any protection. If we get the nice day predicted for Wednesday they should all get a real boost of sunshine and a little warmth.
Reply Dan
02:30 PM on March 23, 2011 
All your plants and beds are looking great Laura. Weather has been a pain here too. All the snow melted a couple weeks ago so I thought I was in the clear. Then last night we got close to a foot of snow again. This time last year I had already planted things out and was harvesting from the cold frame.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
10:20 AM on March 24, 2011 
Dan - Oh my gosh! Almost a foot of snow this late in the season is really an emotional set back! Hopefully it was the last hurrah of winter and spring will be quickly forthcoming for you.