My daughter and son-in-law grow the best onions. In fact they grow a magnificent vegetable garden. It has full sun, is fed lots of homemade compost and given TLC. I asked her for her annual onion routine. They brought me onions this Easter Sunday and honestly they are as fresh as the day they were harvested last fall.

Growing Onions by Kate Ruoss

I have started onions by sets and by seeds, but I have had more success with starting onions by seed especially for long term storage, than by using onion sets. We start our onion seeds in mid-March. The varieties we have grown for the past 15 years are Patterson (yellow) and Redwing (red). I am sure there are more varieties that are good for long term storage, but I like West Coast Seeds. This is what we do. 

1. Start our seed and trim green tops if they get too tall (a few inches off the tops). I usually had a half strength fertilizer every week starting after 3 weeks of growth. 

2. We turn the soil, add compost and some organic fertilizer if we have some around. 

3. At the end of April, I harden off the onions by setting outside and in the greenhouse for a week. 

4. At the beginning of May, the first or second week, we plant the onions out. Onions are frost hardy so can handle the cooler nights during the beginning of May. The onions are planted about 4-5 inches apart.  

5. We mulch with compost around the plants and hand water until they settle. 

6. In August – September when they are showing signs of full growth (brown wrappers forming and tops falling), we turn off the drip irrigation for one-two weeks. 

7. We then pull up the onions and let them dry in the sun for a day or two when it is hot. 

8. We string groups of onions together and hang them in an outside shed for 4-5 weeks until they are really cured. 

9. The tops are cut off and we store them in a cold room in a single layer. We can store them all winter.  

(The picture of the onions on the cutting board was taken on April 1^st 2024 and they are still firm from Fall 23)