The Old Folks Home

[Wisher1000]

I was actually thinking I could get a jar of each and mix them on the cracker......

BTW, SCG, will you define and describe a "fat square" as it applies to quilting?

 

[Beer can]

I have a hundreds of onions and cure them the same way father-in-law always has. Big tarp in the sun, pile them so the tops cover the onions of the others to prevent sun scald. Takes a few days. Then like SCG said, remove roots and cut the dried out tops at about a inch. They'll last until next harvest usually. This yr my onions are a little on the small side, didn't keep up with weeding. Was hoping they still have time but think they're close to done whether I like it or not, once the tops fall over and are not looking all that good it's over for them. Think I'll have to harvest this week myself. I should get a picture of f-i-l's onions, unreal how they'll do when you have time to take care of them, red, white, yellow, his white sterling long storage are the size of softballs, I'll be lucky if mine get baseball size.

 

[Latestarter]

OK, so how/where do you store onions to have them keep for almost a year? I can get mine (store bought) to keep for a month or more but after that they start "re-growing".

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I store mine in a lunch sack in the cold room and they go bad usually around January.

Wisher, I think you talk of a fat quarter. A yard of fabric is 36 inches long. The entirety of it is about 42 to 44 inches tall, and it's usually folded in half, so you have a double of a 22 by the 36 long for a yard. When you cut fabric you generally put the fold on a straight line and cut up from there (easier to manage). So a quarter yard is 9 inches by 44 inches (when unfolded), a half yard is 18 inches by 44 inches, etc. A fat quarter is taking the half yard 18x44 and then cutting that in half at the fold so you end up with a half of a half (a quarter yard) but cut "fat" instead of skinny. Ie a regular quarter yard is 9 inches by 44 inches, but a fat quarter is 18x22. Same amount of fabric just cut different. Depending on what your needs are sometimes fat quarters are the way to go. If I'm making a scrappy quilt and need a small amount of fabric, but more than 9 inches wide, I get a fat quarter if I can get a good price on it. Often fat quarters (especially in Joann) are poor quality fabric at a terrible price.

 

[microchick]

Thanks for the information on storing onions. I harvested my crop two weeks ago and usually I just hang them in bunches in the barn and on the back porch so if I need one I can grab one easily.

Last year's crop lasted until March. I moved them from the barn and porch into the shop so they wouldn't freeze.

What I've noticed this year is while they are drying I'm getting these little mushy spots in the outer skin. I haven't had this happen before. Anyone have the same problem, what is it and how did you fix it?

 

[ronott1]

Thanks for the information on storing onions. I harvested my crop two weeks ago and usually I just hang them in bunches in the barn and on the back porch so if I need one I can grab one easily.

Last year's crop lasted until March. I moved them from the barn and porch into the shop so they wouldn't freeze.

What I've noticed this year is while they are drying I'm getting these little mushy spots in the outer skin. I haven't had this happen before. Anyone have the same problem, what is it and how did you fix it?

This pdf has pictures. It sounds like a type of fungus. California has been battling garlic fungus for several years. One year it was so bad that most of the garlic at the Gilroy garlic festival were from China!

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/garlicdiseases.pdf

 

[Beer can]

OK, so how/where do you store onions to have them keep for almost a year? I can get mine (store bought) to keep for a month or more but after that they start "re-growing".

The yellow 'hot' one's from the store are about the only one's that will store, no sweet one's are storage onions. And you never know how old they are to begin with. It depends on the variety on storage, and keep them in a cool room like SCG said. Even kept in the bottom of our cupboard they last for months. I get mine from Dixondale Farms, plants, super cheap if you buy a lot. I go in on a order with FIL and a guy at work, the more bunches you buy the cheaper. We grow copra yellow, red wing and red zepplin (FIL buys red bull from elsewhere, he prefers them for red and dixondale no longer has them), and white sterling. Storage potential up to twelve months.

 

[Beer can]

Thanks for the information on storing onions. I harvested my crop two weeks ago and usually I just hang them in bunches in the barn and on the back porch so if I need one I can grab one easily.

Last year's crop lasted until March. I moved them from the barn and porch into the shop so they wouldn't freeze.

What I've noticed this year is while they are drying I'm getting these little mushy spots in the outer skin. I haven't had this happen before. Anyone have the same problem, what is it and how did you fix it?

May have been too wet to begin with? Once they have it I don't think you can 'fix' it. Never had it with fresh onions, only after they have stored for awhile. Biggest thing on getting them to last months for long storage one's is to every once in awhile go through them, check them all, any one's that start to have soft outer skin remove them immediately and use them first. One bad onion will ruin many.
Same with our potatoes, I go through them often and use any questionable one's first. Kinda a pain in the butt when you have tons of them, but necessary if you don't want to throw many away.

 

[microchick]

Yes it's been moderately wet here this spring and summer. Fungus is a possibility although the skin looks normal until you touch it and your finger goes through it.

I know we have had big problems with Fire Blight on our apple and pear trees. We have spent the summer spraying copper solution on them with little success.

 

[Leave a LightOn]

The yellow 'hot' one's from the store are about the only one's that will store, no sweet one's are storage onions. And you never know how old they are to begin with. It depends on the variety on storage, and keep them in a cool room like SCG said. Even kept in the bottom of our cupboard they last for months. I get mine from Dixondale Farms, plants, super cheap if you buy a lot. I go in on a order with FIL and a guy at work, the more bunches you buy the cheaper. We grow copra yellow, red wing and red zepplin (FIL buys red bull from elsewhere, he prefers them for red and dixondale no longer has them), and white sterling. Storage potential up to twelve months.

Thank you for this information. I want to grow this coming season. Are 1015 yellow a short storage sweet onion? That is commonly sold here. Is copra yellow a "Spanish" onion as sometimes called for in recipes?