Can I eat my newly harvested onions?

butterfly72

I harvested most of my onions yesterday - white and red. Theres only about 15 of them altogether as they were leftovers somebody at the allotment gave us.

We use a lot of onions in our cooking so have no need to store them for a long period. Ok daft question time: Can I start eating them now, or do I have to dry them (or whatever you need to do!!) first?:o

thanks

cajsa

butterfly72 wrote: »

I harvested most of my onions yesterday - white and red. Theres only about 15 of them altogether as they were leftovers somebody at the allotment gave us.

We use a lot of onions in our cooking so have no need to store them for a long period. Ok daft question time: Can I start eating them now, or do I have to dry them (or whatever you need to do!!) first?:o

thanks

in short yes you can - all drying does is help prolong the storage life

Happy eating

splodger_seedswapper

as above - yes - use them up

if they are overwintering type - they won't store for long anyway

if they are "green" (fresh and undried) they will be more moist and have a bit more wastage, especially outer skins - also they won't be as pungent - so add a bit extra in a recipe if it relies on onion flavour as it's base.

as a tip - for onions that won't store longterm (overwintered or bolted as eg) just stick them in a blender -and blitz - i just soften lightly for a min or two (in butter) then cool them and then freeze in meal sized portions if not needed in next day or two

fully dried onions would last until easter next year - assuming they are right type to store, haven't bolted or picked up other complaint and are worth the effort

elsien

I put some onions in in the autumn - no idea of the type, some cheap sets a relative gave me. They're now ready to pull up - what's the best way to store them in the short term? I don't want to leave them in as I need the pots to transplant my leeks to.
Thanks

splodger_seedswapper

at elsien are you saying thatall of your onions are in pots or tubs ? sorry for asking (and saying) but that sounds a bit odd - for onions etc

if they are grown in pots, can i assume that there is only a small quantity of them? if they were grown in pots - i doubt that the bulbs have bulked up that much - but if the foliage has started to die back or they are showing signs of disease or infection - then pull them up regardless

because of all the wet weather - i pulled all my overwintering onions earlier than usual - mostly to stop them rotting. they don't as a rule store very well, so i just use them up now (and over next few months) whilst i wait for my main crop onions to bulk up / dry - ready for winter storage

elsien

I have to grow all my veg in pots as there is an issue with soil contamination where I live.
Wouldn't normally bother with onions - they take up too much of my limited space to make it worthwhile - but I was curious and they have bulked up quite well. The foliage has keeled over on both my onions and garlic - not sure if it's damage from the torrential downpours and hail earlier in the week, or whether somethings been climbing on them. The garlic is particularly unimpressive this year - probably not enough watering over the winter, but it's always done ok before.

splodger_seedswapper

to elsien - if you say both types are flagging - check both your onion and garlic plants for critters. garlic would be esiest i think, as the critters seem to like the foliage better

pull up a "jaded" bulb - stem and all - then look to see if you can see any holes down the stem (they can be miniscule) as an extra precaution, peel each stem leaf layer back (one by one) to see if there is a small mggot like creature inside or there may be evidence that a creature has been there recently (all things have to poo at some stage or another)

also - as you (we'll say for now garlic bulb) have lifted said bulb - have a look at the roots at the base of the bulb - are they firm and healthy or are they weak and pull away quite easily - is the bulb firm to touch or does it have soft spots?

all of the above would apply to onons and garlic - if they show signs of any of the descriptions - then i doubt the bulbs will store for any length of time - regardless of what they were - but you don't have to lose the crop, if spotted soon enough - pull them - dry them (dry dirt on skin if nothing else) then process them for later use - like blitz in blender, soften in light fry, freeze - etc

as an add on : bolted bulbs (ones that have sent up a flower spike) will not store long term - so you are better off processing them and making the most of them, than losing them - because they will rot in storage - and that could lead to many other problrms

my personal opinion - grow it - use it - enjoy it - regardless of what it looks like

it will always taste better than it looks and don't forget that you made it :cool: