I Didn't Mean To Grown Onions!

Red Onions Curing

 Growing Red Scallions

I didn't intend to grow red scallions, but there was a package of three dozen bulbs on sale at Walmart for something around $1.50.  I figured it was winter here in San Diego and I had enough room for them in my Earth Box, so what did I have to lose?  I plopped the bulbs in lines in the back of my Earth box with very little fanfare.  I was pretty lazy about the whole thing.  I didn't want to invest a whole lot of time on bulbs from a giant box store-- I wasn't convinced that many of them would sprout up.

I was wrong, all the bulbs became scallions.  I snipped them and ate them regularly all spring.  When they started looking a bit old, I pulled up all but a dozen and chopped them up and froze them for use in soups and other fun dishes.  They are just fine when heated in a soup, but a bit wilty if used in a salad or other raw unheated dish.  It was way worth the $1.50 and the very little effort on my part.

 I left about a dozen scallions in the pot.  They have developed big poofy white flowers that are now developing seeds. I pulled up half of them when the leaves turned brown to find that several had become largeish red onions.  I've had them hanging to dry and cure out for a couple of weeks.  It is the plant that just keeps on giving.  Green onions first, red onions later!

Drying and Curing:
First, I left the onions on my counter to dry out the roots for a few days (it has been very warm here).  After, I twirled up the greenish/dying tops and secured them with a rubber band.  I placed them on a nail in my hall closet to keep them in a dark dry spot.  But I promptly relocated them when my hall closed began smelling like onions! They are pretty dry now and since I intend on eating them relatively soon, I didn't bother with a long drying/curing stage.  If I had a huge crop and intended them to last well into the winter, I'd have been more particular about this stage.

Eating:
Chopped up one of these guys yesterday with a few homegrown tomatoes, avocado wedges, salt, and olive oil.  Perfect onion flavor without a huge oniony bite. 

Infused Onion Blossom Vinegar:
I lopped off one of the blossoms and covered it in vinegar, to make an infused vinegar.  It has been steeping for a few weeks now.  The other four blossoms are still on the plants.  I am going to harvest the seeds once they fully develop and hope to see more bulbs next spring.  Why not?