Got the Onions in The Ground

Last week we got our onions in the mail from Dixondale Farms in Carizo Springs, TX.  We received one bundle of the Short Day Sampler.  The Sampler includes 48 plants that are a mixture of the 1015 Texas Super Sweet, Texas Early White, and the Red Creole.  We like to plant this one as it is a nice variety.

We also got two bundles of the Yellow Granex Onion plants.  That contains 96 onion plants.  The Yellow Granex onion is the hybrid that most people would recognize as the Vidalia sweet onion.  I got them out of the box and prepared the soil, using the onion planting guide provided.  We grow these each year and have had great success with them, usually able to grow all the onions we'll need all year.

The guide contains helpful information on how far apart to plant them, how deep, and how far apart the rows should be.  We've always found that if you follow the instructions, you'll have no problem growing delicious onions.  I got busy with the hoe working the soil and started planting.  I was racing the sun, but by the time the sun was dipping over the horizon, I had the job completed.

And then...  Then we got the news that we'll be experiencing a winter storm early next week, bringing temps to around 20 degrees.  Dixondale Farms helpfully sent out an email with instructions on preparing for extremely cold weather and freezing.  They suggest covering the plants with a tarp and watering thoroughly before a freeze as moist soil holds heat from the day and insulates the bulb and tender roots.  You can bet we'll be doing both of those things prior to the deep freeze.

Hopefully, we'll save the onions and will enjoy delicious onions this summer in yet another bumper crop.

The Next Crop Planted in January

January marks another important time in the garden.  Time to plant onions.  On January 1st we plant tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant into seed pots for transplant into the garden later on.  On January 2nd, we plant onions directly into the garden.  In December I ordered from Dixondale Farms in Carizzo Springs, Texas two Short Day Samplers which consist of Creole Red Onions, Texas White Onions and Texas 1015 Sweet Onions.  I also ordered 1 bundle of Yellow Granex Onions.

They came in the mail quickly, and I opened the box.  Most of the onions are the diameter of a pencil or less.  They arrived healthy.

Planting the onions takes a little work.  First, you dig a trench four inches wide and four inches deep.  To this trench, you apply fertilizer.  I applied ammonium sulfate to the bottom of the trench at a rate of 1/2 cup per 10 linear feet.  You can see it in the bottom of the trench below.  

Then I covered the trench up.  Then I dug a shallow trench 6 inches on either side of the fertilizer trench and planted the onions 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart.  I use a nifty digging knife that my son Russ bought me.  It is sharp and wide and has measurements engraved on the blade.  It is perfect for planting onions.

It was an involved process and not kind to the back, but we got the job done.

When all was said and done, I had four and a half rows of onions planted in the garden!  I went back and counted them and found that I had just planted 296 onions!  That's what we planted last year.

Tricia let me know that we ran out of onions today from the crop we harvested from the summer.  She had to go to the grocery store and buy 3 lbs of onions to cook supper.  Well, we were able to eat off of the harvested onions for 6 1/2 months.  That's not too bad.  And we have onions in the ground that we'll harvest this summer.  I checked on them today and they are already putting on new growth.  It looks like they are well established.

For Crying Out Loud!

Do onions make you cry?  Sometimes when I cut them, tears do well up in my eyes.  Tonight, we had T-bone steaks from our bull calf cooked in a cast iron skillet covered in smothered onions and bell peppers.  So good.  The onions kicked the whole meal up a notch, making us almost have tears of joy as we ate.

We are all out of the homegrown onions we harvested this summer and have had to buy onions.  Well, no time like the present to begin thinking about next year's onion crop.  I buy onion plants from Dixondale Farms.  They are a family farming operation down in Carrizzo Springs, Texas that has been growing onions for 107 years.  (I think they have this onion-growing thing mastered!)  You can click that link above to check out their website.  I was looking at my catalog tonight and made my order.

Prior to five years ago, I had never really tried to grow onions, other than growing green onions.  Now I plant them every year.  The first thing you'll want to do is determine what type of variety works best in your area.  Since we are in the deep south, the Short Day Varieties work best for us.  I like to order the Short Day Sampler and I order two bundles.  Each bundle contains 50 - 75 onion plants.  The sampler is just that - in contains a mixture of 1015Y Texas Super Sweet, Texas Early White, and Red Creole onions.  It is very affordable at approximately $9 per sampler bundle.

I receive them in early to mid-January and get them in the ground shortly thereafter.  I have to give positive reviews to Dixondale Farms.  If you order from them, you can receive an email newsletter called "The Onion Patch" that keeps you up to date with proper care of onion plants to guarantee a bumper crop.  They also have onion recipes like the one I cut & pasted below:

Wow!  I have to try this.  I love a good grilled cheese sandwich, but adding grilled onions and mushrooms to it?  Goodness gracious!  Does that sound great?!  Can't wait to try it...