Friday, 21 June 2019

I picked the last head of winter onions today.

Since I have enough clumps of winter onion, I thought I'd have trouble
using up the bulbils -- winter onion bulbils are so strong that it
takes only a few to season a dish.

But to my delight, I found that when the bulbils and sprouts are
steamed in olive oil, they not only change from seasoning into
vegetable, it's such a mild vegetable that I have to season them with
corned beef or sausage.

Place sliced, diced, or small vegetables in a skillet. Toss with oil.
Season as desired. Cover tightly and cook on low heat five to fifteen
minutes. Stir every five minutes.

If potatoes are included, pre-heat them in the microwave.

Winter onions make green onions in late winter, and probably prevented
a lot of scurvy before the Ball Brothers made it possible to save
tomatoes for winter use. They were still held in much esteem when I
was a child.

When winter onions are bred for sale, they are called Egyptian onions,
topping onions, or walking onions. I have a clone of the old
semi-feral winter onions that grew without cultivation, but fertilize
and weed them and confine them to a row in the garden. Our house was
built on fill, so I haven't been able to start a usable colony of
wild-growing onions.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On Sat, 22 Jun 2019 23:58:31 -0400, Joy Beeson
> wrote:

>Friday, 21 June 2019
>
>I picked the last head of winter onions today.
>
>Since I have enough clumps of winter onion, I thought I'd have trouble
>using up the bulbils -- winter onion bulbils are so strong that it
>takes only a few to season a dish.
>
>But to my delight, I found that when the bulbils and sprouts are
>steamed in olive oil, they not only change from seasoning into
>vegetable, it's such a mild vegetable that I have to season them with
>corned beef or sausage.

LOL. "My vegetables are so mild, I have to season them with a dead
animal."

Bruce wrote:
>
> On Sat, 22 Jun 2019 23:58:31 -0400, Joy Beeson
> > wrote:
>
> >Friday, 21 June 2019
> >
> >I picked the last head of winter onions today.
> >
> >Since I have enough clumps of winter onion, I thought I'd have trouble
> >using up the bulbils -- winter onion bulbils are so strong that it
> >takes only a few to season a dish.
> >
> >But to my delight, I found that when the bulbils and sprouts are
> >steamed in olive oil, they not only change from seasoning into
> >vegetable, it's such a mild vegetable that I have to season them with
> >corned beef or sausage.
>
> LOL. "My vegetables are so mild, I have to season them with a dead
> animal."

Many comments in that post were odd.

On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 08:01:37 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>Bruce wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, 22 Jun 2019 23:58:31 -0400, Joy Beeson
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >Friday, 21 June 2019
>> >
>> >I picked the last head of winter onions today.
>> >
>> >Since I have enough clumps of winter onion, I thought I'd have trouble
>> >using up the bulbils -- winter onion bulbils are so strong that it
>> >takes only a few to season a dish.
>> >
>> >But to my delight, I found that when the bulbils and sprouts are
>> >steamed in olive oil, they not only change from seasoning into
>> >vegetable, it's such a mild vegetable that I have to season them with
>> >corned beef or sausage.
>>
>> LOL. "My vegetables are so mild, I have to season them with a dead
>> animal."
>
>Many comments in that post were odd.

Egyptian or Walking Onions grow in clumps, do not form large bulbs in
the soil and do not die off in the winter. They form little bulblets
at the top of the stalk (that you can eat) that tip over, hit the soil
and begin another set of onions -- therefore walking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_onion
Janet US

"U.S. Janet B." wrote:
>
> Egyptian or Walking Onions grow in clumps, do not form large bulbs in
> the soil and do not die off in the winter. They form little bulblets
> at the top of the stalk (that you can eat) that tip over, hit the soil
> and begin another set of onions -- therefore walking.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_onion

Blast from the past. As a kid playing outside all time, I often
saw those in fields of tall grass. At that young age, never
thought to harvest any but I do remember them well.

Gary wrote:
> "U.S. Janet B." wrote:
>> Egyptian or Walking Onions grow in clumps, do not form large bulbs in
>> the soil and do not die off in the winter. They form little bulblets
>> at the top of the stalk (that you can eat) that tip over, hit the soil
>> and begin another set of onions -- therefore walking.
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_onion
>
> Blast from the past. As a kid playing outside all time, I often
> saw those in fields of tall grass. At that young age, never
> thought to harvest any but I do remember them well.

the hardneck garlic i grow here is similar in habit.
pretty hard to get rid of if you let it take over (or
throw a few thousand scapes into a field thinking you
can never have too much garlic/scapes ... uh, oops...
i'm still removing it when i get a chance.


songbird

On Sat, 22 Jun 2019 23:58:31 -0400, Joy Beeson
> wrote:

>Friday, 21 June 2019
>
>I picked the last head of winter onions today.
>
>Since I have enough clumps of winter onion, I thought I'd have trouble
>using up the bulbils -- winter onion bulbils are so strong that it
>takes only a few to season a dish.
>
>But to my delight, I found that when the bulbils and sprouts are
>steamed in olive oil, they not only change from seasoning into
>vegetable, it's such a mild vegetable that I have to season them with
>corned beef or sausage.
>
>Place sliced, diced, or small vegetables in a skillet. Toss with oil.
>Season as desired. Cover tightly and cook on low heat five to fifteen
>minutes. Stir every five minutes.
>
>If potatoes are included, pre-heat them in the microwave.
>
>Winter onions make green onions in late winter, and probably prevented
>a lot of scurvy before the Ball Brothers made it possible to save
>tomatoes for winter use. They were still held in much esteem when I
>was a child.
>
>When winter onions are bred for sale, they are called Egyptian onions,
>topping onions, or walking onions. I have a clone of the old
>semi-feral winter onions that grew without cultivation, but fertilize
>and weed them and confine them to a row in the garden. Our house was
>built on fill, so I haven't been able to start a usable colony of
>wild-growing onions.

I have never used the clumps for winter onions. It seemed to me that
they would be to tough or woody. It sounds as though you put them to
better use than I do
Janet US

On Sat, 22 Jun 2019 23:26:34 -0600, U.S. Janet B. >
wrote:

> I have never used the clumps for winter onions. It seemed to me that
> they would be to tough or woody. It sounds as though you put them to
> better use than I do

The season for green winter onions is over before one can start
working in the garden; they are just like any green onion, but have
more flavor. They get tough when they get bigger, but have usable
bulbils in June, and in July or August there will be a brief period
when you can extract a small but usable (and very flavorful!) bulb
from the bottom of each stalk. This bulb sprouts as soon as it is
formed, and is no use for starting new hills. But a clump can be
divided; when I eat a clump of green onions, I usually leave one to
start a replacement clump.

I used to think that winter onions started tasting like soap when they
developed past the green-onion stage, but I eventually learned that
the soapy flavor is a response to dry weather; if you keep them
watered, they keep tasting good.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

Joy Beeson wrote:
....
> When winter onions are bred for sale, they are called Egyptian onions,
> topping onions, or walking onions. I have a clone of the old
> semi-feral winter onions that grew without cultivation, but fertilize
> and weed them and confine them to a row in the garden. Our house was
> built on fill, so I haven't been able to start a usable colony of
> wild-growing onions.

i'm not sure what to call a winter onion here
because to me any onion can usually grow and be
harvested at several different times depending upon
what you want (the green tops or the stalk or the
bulb). some onions do not get bulbs and are
stronger or milder at various times.

i really like using green garlic in the late
winter through until they start getting too
woody covers on the cloves (the next few weeks
as the garlic here is just starting to put on
scapes).

garlic is the easiest thing i grow here.

i've never had very good luck starting the
bunching onions from seeds so this past summer
a friend sent me some bunching onions as plants
to put in and they are blooming now. i'm so
excited because the blooms are covered with
bees of all kinds and it is fun to watch them
and see what new bees i've not seen before.

the bunching onions have grown so well that
i'm going to have plenty to break them apart,
eat some and then replant the rest in a row
in the garden where they are at now. the
seeds i'm going to harvest as soon as they
start showing signs of being developed enough
and then i can give them away at a seed swap.

the recent craze is ramps. the greenhouse
even was selling ramps this year.

our normal eating onions that i grow are
large sweet kelcey onions and some red
onions, but i didn't plant any red onions
this year for a change. i like to leave
a few of these from each season to flower
so i can get seeds, but i'm lax this year
due to injury last year so no large onion
flowers this year.


songbird