Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Onion Harvest Begins

I had a bunch of the Copra onions fall down over a week ago in a wind storm. Most places say to harvest a couple of days after the top fall over. UMass Extension service says to have half the leaves dead before harvesting for the best storage. They say they don't cure well if the leaves are too green. So I split the difference. A couple of leaves have died on the bulbs and they have been down for a while now. I'd say this is about 2/3s of my Copras. The others are still standing tall, so I'll leave them alone.

The first curing is in the sun preferably an 80F degree day. Well yesterday it 92F. This can produce sunscald, but waiting longer means another rainstorm they have to go through which could lead to rot. So I did it anyway. I decided this year to try a new way. Last year I'd leave the onions outside on the path for a day or two, then I'd bring them inside to dry. I don't particularly like the constant smell of onions in the house (we don't have a shed big enough for them or a garage like most people would use). And I think the gas they release is bad for my asthmatic lungs. So I wanted a better solution.

I have very little extra space in the yard to do anything with, but the top of the compost pile is a lot of space. So I put bamboo poles over the top every four inches. Then I laid down some chicken wire over that. Then I put my onions on top. Yesterday they didn't have a tarp as they were getting their first drying in the sun. But tonight it is going to rain, so they needed protection.
Now they have a tarp. Hopefully it is secure enough for a storm and the rain won't blow in. I'll leave them there until they are dry enough to braid and go into the basement for storage. I hope these are dry before the next harvest as they took up about 2/3s of the space and I only harvested about a third of my onions.

I would say this is going to be one of the best years for my Copras. Copra has never been a particularly large onion. Their claim to fame is that they store very well. They are a 3" onion that can get bigger in good conditions. Mine were always lucky to get to 3". This year the bulbs are bigger than usual with many over 3" and I haven't found even one that was starting to bolt. I think the netting over the onions really helped to keep the onion fly from damaging them. I hope that means that they will store better too as I've gotten a lot of random rot in storage in the past. I'm also endeavoring to be as gentle as possible with my onions as dropping them or knocking them around can lead to rot.

In addition to the Copras, I've been harvesting the Ailsa Craig onions as I need them. They are a sweet onion and though they are a good keeper for a sweet onions (about 2 months) I always use them first as they can't store over the winter. They haven't fallen over yet, but the bulbs are big enough. Interestingly I don't think they are getting quite as big as last year. But the taste is a lot better.

One of those Ailsa Craigs went into my refrigerator pickle brine. I like to make up jars of the brine and when the cucumbers are harvested, I can just pop any extra ones I'm not using, into the brine. I decided to make up the brine because as I was setting up the onion drying spot, I had to take down a couple of dill plants. They had huge heads and were just perfect. Now I just need my cucumbers to go crazy. I think they are almost at that point.

8 comments:

  1. I keep forgetting to tell you that I love your new banner. That looks like a great solution for curing your onions. I can't even imagine having to smell them in the house the whole time they are drying. After my success with sweet onions this year I'm hoping to find a good storage onion that will grow in my latitude. I was really surprised at how many onions I harvested for the space, it was definitely worth it.

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  2. Is that whole area compost (what looks like 3 sections of pallets?). I've been wanting to do a 2 or 3 parter compost bin for a while and have been saving up old pallets. Your yard looks fantastic and well organized for a small space.

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    1. Yes. I have four bins. Two bins are for leaf storage (which is where the onions are). And two are for actually making compost.

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  3. Those onions look beautiful - Thanks for putting in all the details on when to pull them. I had heard about the tops falling over part but wasn't sure if you harvested right away or had to wait and for how long...etc., etc. And I hadn't read anything about the tops dying back, so that is good to know as well. Good idea about using the ailsa craig in the refrigerator pickles. I first made these pickles last year after reading one of your posts. After making (and loving) the first one, I always added extra onions because I actually love them almost more then the pickles themselves.

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  4. Good information about the additional leaves drying before pulling. Last year I pulled after they fell over but when the ground was fairly dry. Those were Copra and I still have a couple of small ones holding on, still rock hard. For some reason I tried Patterson this year. They are definitely bigger but seeing whether they last as long will be irrelevant because I grew fewer. Had a lot of transplants not make it. Meanwhile, a lot of rumbling outside so the storm has arrived.

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  5. Not a good year for onions at my house. Glad you had a good crop. That is a great idea for making the brine ahead for the cucumbers. Do you let your cucumbers ferment on the counter or just leave them in the fridge

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    1. I don't do fermented pickles. I like vinegar pickles better so that is what I make.

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  6. It looks as though allium leaf miner may have made it onto our site :(

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