Storing onions

Last night there was the second frost, a slightly sharper one which left its traces on the stile to the vegetable garden and gave the leaves of the lettuces a shimmering rime.

The onions have been in the polytunnel drying off prior to storing but now the nights are cold in the tunnel, even though the days have been very hot - up to 35 degrees two days ago! This fluctuation, plus the humidity in the early mornings, will start to harm the keeping qualities of the onions and they need to be prepared for longer storage.

Today is perfect for that, sunny, warm, with a slight breeze; it makes working outside the polytunnel cleaning off the onions a very pleasurable task.

Preparation is simple, wearing gloves makes it less mucky and means that you can rub off the soil and loose outer skin quite easily. Don't be tempted to remove too many layers, as long as the skin is dry and clean it will protect the bulb.
Check over for soft spots, particularly at the neck and root plate. Remaining roots can be easily twisted off and, if the foliage is dry, that can be easily twisted off too. Any bulbs that have bolted need using first and should not be stored.

I grow my onions from seed and don't have many that run to seed, even in this hot summer they kept on growing and I ensured that I watered them well when they were small to encourage them to put on weight.

Once cleaned they need to be stored in a dry airy space which keeps a reasonably constant temperature and doesn't freeze. I hang them in mesh bags from the roof of my potting shed, with the larger ones made up into ropes using their foliage and some string. The ones that I think won't last well are taken straight into the kitchen.

Once the onions are in for storage it's probably time to start thinking about planting the garlic. Originally I purchased named garlic bulbs from a reputable seed merchant but now I use the saved bulbs, as long as they are healthy. These will be planted next month in what was this year's brassica patch.