Onions and Potatoes

Welcome back.  Yesterday I pulled the yellow Stuttgart and red onions.  It's hard to believe that the growing season is winding down.  The summer sure went fast.  But it's not quite over yet.

So when is the proper time to harvest the onions?

Generally, when the tops start to turn brown and die off, it is time to harvest.  This indicates that they have stopped growing.  Of course, different varieties will mature at different times as is true with all vegetables. For example, the yellow sweet Spanish onions that I planted are still growing, I normally wait until September to harvest them.

You may recall my post on May 10, 2014 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/05/planting-more-early-season.html), in which I described planting the Stuttgart and red onions.  It doesn't seem that long ago, but it's been over three months now.

Below are the results of that planting:

Once the onions are pulled, it is best to let them dry in the sun for a few days as a type of aging.  A wheelbarrow works well for this.   Of course, they can be used as soon as they are harvested, but if you want to store them, it is better to make sure they are dry.  Onions can be stored over the winter in a cool dark place, preferably around 40 to 50 degrees.  I store mine in our cellar, which maintains that approximate temperature range during the winter.  These conditions also work well for potatoes.

Some varieties store better than others.  The Stuttgart onion is an excellent keeper.  The red onions do fairly well also, but not as well at the Stuttgart.  The yellow sweet Spanish onion is not a good storing onion.

I also dug 4 or 5 hills of potatoes yesterday, for several reasons.  The vines are still growing, but they are starting to wilt down a little.  Similar to the onions, I usually dig the potatoes once the vines have died off, which is normally mid-August to September depending on the variety.

I described planting the potatoes in my blog entry of May 30, 2014 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-with-potatoes.html).

I dug a few of the Yukon Gold hills, since we are going on vacation and we wanted to use them to make a potato salad.  This variety is an excellent choice for potato salad.  I also wanted to "test" the crop to see how well they have grown this season.

Based on the results from digging these 4 or 5 hills, It is going to be an excellent potato harvest this year:

Yukon Gold Sampling

Finally, a photo of a pretty sky this evening with a small rainbow included:

Until next time and as always, thanks for reading.