I don't recall if I mentioned this here before or not, but I have been trying to find good strong onions that make one cry for growing. Most of the onions around here--in the grocery stores or for growing are just those blah sweet onions with no flavor. It is very difficult to find anything but sweet onions online also. I prefer the really strong onions. Anyway, I found this link that lists 15 kinds of onions that are supposed to be good and strong and make one cry. I don't know this lady, but thought I would try and find some of these onions for growing. I did plant the Ebenezer White onion this year, but DeGroot says it is a mild onion? DeGroot is the brand I bought. 15 Onions That Will Make You Cry (Every Time!) (kitchencuddle.com)
You are 100% correct! The stronger an onion is, the more flavorful the dish we put them in. Also when you deep fry or roast onions - Once again, the stronger they are, the better tasting is the end result, (always). It's unfortunately the same story over here in my part of the world when it comes to tomatoes. The ones which are most abundant, are the ones which grow quickly, (and thus give a quick return to the farmers) - However they lack taste, as most of the time they are hard to distinguish between the taste of room temperature water... Beef tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are not only rare, but costly too. Yet they are full of flavor, yet they are not easy to come by.
The strongest onions that I have grown are Egyptian Walking Onions. Wow they are strong. Unfortunately, they dont make a large size onion. Rather small. I have wondered if the tops are cut off before they make baby onions, would they make at least a little larger bulb. I don't know. Have you tried growing shallots? There are some seed-grown varieties of those. I think they would be stronger than most onions, but Im not certain. I read that the health benefits of onions are more for stronger flavored ones, too. Baker Creek was my source for Red Wethersfield. I've grown those for several years.
I grow Egyptian walking onions, and mine are very mild. I love to grow them though. I was wondering if planting hot peppers with them would make them stronger? I have had Egyptian walking onions since 2009 when an internet friend shared them in a seed swap. These do not walk until their second year, but others say theirs walk the first year?
I have not tried shallots yet. You all talk about leeks. Are they strong? No one here seems to have seeds for leeks, so I will have to look online I guess. I would like to try them anyway.
I'm still trying to find my best strong onion - which for me are also the longest keepers. I grew Stuttgarters (15 on the list) the last few years, but they were also quite flat in shape as opposed to a globe shape - and very tight. Mine were only conducive to chopping or dicing. I ordered Patterson, which is a replacement for Copra ( on the list) at my Northern seed company. Sadly I missed picking them up at the post office by one day, and wasn't going back for four weeks so I missed my window to start them this year. I will grow them next year. They are a strong onion with a really thick skin which apparently makes them excellent storage onion, and they are globe shaped which I like. We do enjoy the sweet onions very much and they are a treat here - they are very expensive to buy. But nothing beats a strong onion for storage and flavour of a long or slow cooking dish. Re: onions that make you cry - as an interesting side note. My daughter is a Doctor of Optometry, and told me that the reason onions make us cry is that when we cut them, their compounds seek and adhere to the moisture in our eyes. She suggested that I wet my cutting board and knife, so that the eye watering compounds stick to that moisture instead of my eye balls. I do this (when I remember) and it does help a lot. ( I put the cutting board on a towel on the counter top so it doesn't slip around). It didn't eliminate it, but it was much much improved. There's lots of tricks out there, but this one has worked the best for me so far. I find leeks very mild ( and so so delicious) - for myself they are milder than green onions. I think they are in a class of their own - I hope you enjoy growing them. I wish I could grow walking onions. Even just so I could say " I grow Egyptian Walking Onions"...very cool sounding.
@melody Mc The friend who shared the starts of Egyptian onions with me was from up around Washington or Oregon someplace. They are a perennial onion if you don't harvest them all at once. Maybe you could grow them indoors? I don't think they would complain. They can be planted any time if the ground is not frozen.
I had Egyptian onions when I lived in Washington, my son brought them back from a visit to Eastern Washington, for me. When I moved here; I bought some and have had them for a couple years. They were starting to come up through the leaves when we had the really cold weather a few weeks ago. Now I'm just hoping that they will be okay.
@Willowisp0801 , Your Egyptian onions should be just fine. We get below zero temps here sometimes in the winter, and lots of snow, and they always come back when it is a bit warmer. We had about a week of below zero in January, and my Egyptian onions (and other kinds of onions) are all going gangbusters here. I am in zone 6b in southern Missouri. Some years we have lots of snow too, they have always come back.
Thanks! I'm happy to hear that. My granddaughter's been sick all week. Her cold turned into an ear infection. We went to the ER early Tuesday morning, so we could confirm and get antibiotics. we both s!ept most of Tuesday. I took her to school Wednesday and ended up leaving work to take her back home. She ended up home Thursday and Friday. I hear her coughing all through the night. Hopefully she'll be better soon. Something's going around, they're dropping like flies; staff and students both. I'm lucky I haven't gotten it! I did bring my tomatoes (the seeds that sprouted in water) home. They are very healthy!
Willow hope your granddaughter is well soon… sending healing blessings your way. Stay well. Same here a lot of yuck seems to be floating around. Your sprouting tomato seeds is a good sign , lots of tomatoes this year …
Thanks Pac. It seems I spoke too soon; I started getting a sore throat last night and woke up with a headache and the sore throat. I'm heading to the store to get some orange juice and will drink lots of tea, oj and water this weekend and hopefully it will help get rid of it.
@Willowisp0801 My youngest granddaughter had RSV this past month and spent 5 days in the hospital. She started with an ear infection, and she was still on antibiotics the other day. (I don't know why they give antibiotics for RSV, because that is a virus and antibiotics do not work on viruses.) Anyhoo, I hope she is soon much better. Prayers for you all.
