The Onion Report and Other Trivia
Because of the great success of this year's onion crop, we have been enjoying never-before-attempted onion delicacies. The latest was Blooming Onions. They're always available at the state fair, and when Hiromi saw them there, he decided to learn how to make them at home. His second attempt was a great success. We've also have good homemade onion rings, and I've enjoyed sauteed onions on top of everything that seemed remotely appropriate--casseroles, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, etc. I also made an onion casserole or two. I liked the casseroles better than Hiromi did.
My onion growing report is as ready as it will ever be probably. The plants were all ordered from Dixondale Farms, a wholesale onion plant supplier from Texas. The Master Gardeners pooled their orders and got good quantity price breaks. The onions were delivered around April 10. Some of the same varieties are available at Stutzmans.
I have become a trumpeter of the virtues of planting intermediate-day onions in our Kansas gardens--because we live in the north-south middle of the United States. Although how they're grown makes a difference (high fertility and lots of water are good), selecting onions matched to your latitude location is the single biggest factor in insuring big onions. South of us they should plant short-day onions, and long-day onions are most successful north of us. Intermediate-day onions begin to size up when the days of are intermediate length.
The goal is to have many leaves before the sizing up begins, since there will never be more than one ring for each onion leaf. More leaves equal bigger onions. In Kansas, a second goal is to grow the tops large before hot dry weather arrives and growth of all plants slows. Soooo, big plants before the days get too long and the weather gets too hot and dry--that's the goal.
Here's what we planted:
Intermediate Day Onions (harvest on July 21)
1 bunch Candy
1 bunch Intermediate Day Sampler (Candy--yellow, Sierra Blanca--formerly Super Star--white, and Red Candy--red)
Short Day Onions (harvest on about July 10)
1 bunch 1015Y--yellow
Long Day Onions
Long Day Sampler (Walla Walla--yellow, Ringmaster--white, and Redwing--red)
The biggest onions of all were the Super Stars, with one weighing 1.3 lbs. These were from the Intermediate Sampler pack. Seven of them weighed over 1 lb. each.
The bunch that yielded the largest harvest was the Candy, with a 50 lb. total. Most of the onions were large and nice.
The most surprising result was the size of the red long day onions--Redwing. The size far exceeded the Red Candy intermediate day variety. These were part of the long day sampler pack, which also sported some nice-sized Walla Wallas--one of them at .91 lbs. These did not dry off as soon as the others did, and by the time I harvested them later in the summer August 10???), the outer layers had some greening and sunscald.
The 1015Y variety was just as mild and sweet as advertised, but the total produce from one bunch was only 27.4 lbs. These can be stored for only one month.
The Intermediate Day Sampler total yield was 35.96 lbs. The large Super Stars couldn't quite compensate for very small size of the Red Candy.
The fact that there is no Intermediate Day variety that is a good keeper (storage onion) is always a disappointment. Candy reportedly lasts about three months, and that's the longest keeper.
It's also disappointing that sweet onions are never good keepers. High pyruvic acid content is part of what makes onions strong-tasting--and long-lasting in storage.
***************
Trivia: Shane's first business was selling onions from the company that was the predecessor to Dixondale Farms--Piedmont Plants. He took orders from neighbors and friends and then ordered the onions at wholesale prices and sold them with a slight markup--still cheaper than local sources.
***************
Today's paper had a story about the Dwight and Karen Miller family having just moved into a new house that stands in the same spot where their former home burned to the ground three months ago. Here's what I posted on Facebook:
My brother Lowell, my son Shane and my grandson Cedric are all mentioned or pictured in this article--not to mention the main characters, my cousin Karen's family.
Read the article at this link. In the picture, Cedric is making a snooty face, for unknown reasons. He loves Cindy and had apparently gone with Shane to help with the moving process but stayed parked beside Cindy. You might also enjoy the comment thread under Shane's post of a link to the same article:
**********
Shane's business has outgrown the building that Hiromi used to own and live in, and they're getting ready to move into new quarters on West 4th Street, across from the Co-op. Rainbow ???? used to be the business in that building.
He's advertised recently for someone to join the Rock team in construction. He posted a copy of the Rock Group's Core Values, and hinted at them in the original post:
Rock Renovation is looking to add a full time team member to our construction team. The successful applicant will be a person of integrity, self motivated, and a good cultural fit in our organization that values: Business as Mission, Community, Shared Abundance, Quality, Improvement, and Integrity. Basic construction experience preferred, but we will consider training the right person. Contact me if you're interested in more information!
Joesph Hershberger's "I am coming" response is probably not a serious response. Shane worked for Joseph until he left to work at Rock, and I don't think either one is looking for a complete role reversal right now.
My onion growing report is as ready as it will ever be probably. The plants were all ordered from Dixondale Farms, a wholesale onion plant supplier from Texas. The Master Gardeners pooled their orders and got good quantity price breaks. The onions were delivered around April 10. Some of the same varieties are available at Stutzmans.
I have become a trumpeter of the virtues of planting intermediate-day onions in our Kansas gardens--because we live in the north-south middle of the United States. Although how they're grown makes a difference (high fertility and lots of water are good), selecting onions matched to your latitude location is the single biggest factor in insuring big onions. South of us they should plant short-day onions, and long-day onions are most successful north of us. Intermediate-day onions begin to size up when the days of are intermediate length.
The goal is to have many leaves before the sizing up begins, since there will never be more than one ring for each onion leaf. More leaves equal bigger onions. In Kansas, a second goal is to grow the tops large before hot dry weather arrives and growth of all plants slows. Soooo, big plants before the days get too long and the weather gets too hot and dry--that's the goal.
Here's what we planted:
Intermediate Day Onions (harvest on July 21)
1 bunch Candy
1 bunch Intermediate Day Sampler (Candy--yellow, Sierra Blanca--formerly Super Star--white, and Red Candy--red)
Short Day Onions (harvest on about July 10)
1 bunch 1015Y--yellow
Long Day Onions
Long Day Sampler (Walla Walla--yellow, Ringmaster--white, and Redwing--red)
The biggest onions of all were the Super Stars, with one weighing 1.3 lbs. These were from the Intermediate Sampler pack. Seven of them weighed over 1 lb. each.
The bunch that yielded the largest harvest was the Candy, with a 50 lb. total. Most of the onions were large and nice.
The most surprising result was the size of the red long day onions--Redwing. The size far exceeded the Red Candy intermediate day variety. These were part of the long day sampler pack, which also sported some nice-sized Walla Wallas--one of them at .91 lbs. These did not dry off as soon as the others did, and by the time I harvested them later in the summer August 10???), the outer layers had some greening and sunscald.
The 1015Y variety was just as mild and sweet as advertised, but the total produce from one bunch was only 27.4 lbs. These can be stored for only one month.
The Intermediate Day Sampler total yield was 35.96 lbs. The large Super Stars couldn't quite compensate for very small size of the Red Candy.
The fact that there is no Intermediate Day variety that is a good keeper (storage onion) is always a disappointment. Candy reportedly lasts about three months, and that's the longest keeper.
It's also disappointing that sweet onions are never good keepers. High pyruvic acid content is part of what makes onions strong-tasting--and long-lasting in storage.
***************
Trivia: Shane's first business was selling onions from the company that was the predecessor to Dixondale Farms--Piedmont Plants. He took orders from neighbors and friends and then ordered the onions at wholesale prices and sold them with a slight markup--still cheaper than local sources.
***************
Today's paper had a story about the Dwight and Karen Miller family having just moved into a new house that stands in the same spot where their former home burned to the ground three months ago. Here's what I posted on Facebook:
My brother Lowell, my son Shane and my grandson Cedric are all mentioned or pictured in this article--not to mention the main characters, my cousin Karen's family.
Read the article at this link. In the picture, Cedric is making a snooty face, for unknown reasons. He loves Cindy and had apparently gone with Shane to help with the moving process but stayed parked beside Cindy. You might also enjoy the comment thread under Shane's post of a link to the same article:
**********
Shane's business has outgrown the building that Hiromi used to own and live in, and they're getting ready to move into new quarters on West 4th Street, across from the Co-op. Rainbow ???? used to be the business in that building.
He's advertised recently for someone to join the Rock team in construction. He posted a copy of the Rock Group's Core Values, and hinted at them in the original post:
Rock Renovation is looking to add a full time team member to our construction team. The successful applicant will be a person of integrity, self motivated, and a good cultural fit in our organization that values: Business as Mission, Community, Shared Abundance, Quality, Improvement, and Integrity. Basic construction experience preferred, but we will consider training the right person. Contact me if you're interested in more information!
Joesph Hershberger's "I am coming" response is probably not a serious response. Shane worked for Joseph until he left to work at Rock, and I don't think either one is looking for a complete role reversal right now.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
9:04 PM
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