Started the Onion Sets off in cell trays in the greenhouse... Now before anyone says "why do you do that Zig?" I started off doing this some years ago as the show I used to enter was in August, and unless I started the onions a bit early I'd struggle to get them ripened in time for the show. Once they'd made good top growth I hardened them off for a week... The Partidges had pruned all the spring onions and the garlic so the plot needed fencing first. Once that was done it was time to plant them up... Since starting to sow them this way I've found 2 advantages. 1. They make good root growth and come on early while they're still expensive in the shops. 2. The Blackbird can't pull them all out to have a look at them.
If I were to answer your query… “only when I’m eating them..” just couldn’t resist…sitting inside whilst it snowing … boring….sorry…
Haha! I watched a video where dirt was pulled away from the top of the bulbs as with a spoon, but they used fingers? Not that I need more to do....
Hey Zigs— great posting, just the kind I like. Interesting that you start your onions off like that. It looks like it works well. I also like the neatness of your onion bed. Tis a shame that you have to fence it in though. Stil, one does what he must to be successful. And the kneeling planks. I couldn’t garden without them. We plant our sets under ground precisely to keep the blackbirds from flipping them out. By the time the little green “worms” (leaves) begin to show, they are well anchored and o not budge. BTW— how long is it from when you push those seed onions into the soil of the cell trays and the day that you move them on to the outside plot? Super posting. Good luck this year.
Cheers Sjoerd The fence will also keep the rabbits, badger and fox out so not so bad, and I've fixed shade netting on the North and East side to keep the winds from the Noordzee off It was 6 weeks from planting in the cell trays to planting out (I checked the dates on the photos )
I also netted the remaining spring onions, the partridges haven't found them yet. The partridges are all above our heads at the moment, they roost on the house roof and snuggle up near the bathroom window as thats the warm spot
Zigs, thanks for taking the time to explain and answer my quezzy about the onion sets. Six weeks. That is interesting enough for a leedl test next year….if I remember. I mean, it isn’t that I feel my onions are not large enough, but if this technique would yield larger ones, that would then be something to consider. My Bride is always teasing me and saying that I think bigger is better. That isn’t true, but I think the flavour of some veg is better to freeze in and is tastier in a mature form. She on the other hand, likes smaller, young veg. She tries to sway me by saying that the smaller versions are “gourmet”, and therefore fancier. She also believes that immature veg tastes better. I just suggest that she try one of those golf ball sized green apples sometime to perceive the advantages of eating garden harvests that is not really ready to pick. Chuckle— we do enjoy a bit of banter in the garden. BTW, it did not escape my attention that you used the dutch word for the North Sea. That was cool of you. The wind off the Noordzee is tough on plants though. Tough on people as well. I hope that your barrier will deflect it well enough off your beds. I realise that Brits and North Americans have trouble with visiting wildlife, but the ones you mentioned above do sound interesting, albeit destructive to one’s planting efforts. That said, it would be interesting to see them. You could set up Springwatch cams and entertain us. Of course it may well be at theexpence of your gardening. Those kneepads on the pootplanken look a bit like the ones that the Bride uses. I have some work trousers with “pockets” on the knees for protective rubber pads. I do so much work on my knees that I have now become a wimp and cannot kneel without them.
My pleasure Sjoerd Not sure it makes for bigger onions but it certainly wouldn't make them smaller I think a good healthy soil has more to do with that ( I don't risk feeding onions as it can cause them to bolt) They seem to stick to a particular length of time to ripening, my lot used to ripen for the show on the last Thursday in August. As you can see from the larger Kelsae onions, these didn't ripen enough even though I sowed them on Boxing Day I got the word Noordzee from listening to Radio Mi Amigo/Radio Caroline They are broadcasting again on 648 mw, you should be able to pick it up where you are Pootplanken is a brilliant word I have a few videos of the garden wildlife There is a Badger/Das at 2.39
