Grilling In The Rain

Behold the very last Stuttgarter yellow onion from the 2019 garden.      

 

 

 

 

 

Sliced that sucker and sautéed it in EVO and sweet unsalted butter to accompany the burgers from Marchant’s.       

 

Plenty of garden Romaine to dress the bakery Kaiser roll too.      

 

 

Raising a toast to grilling in the rain.       

 

Happy Solstice!

Final Harvest

Last week I  fetched the garden onions that had been curing in the shed.  Sure-enough about five were soft and rotten. 

This was an altogether terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad year for onions.  While things started-out just fine - nearing the end of the growing season too much rain and cold led to a massive crop failure.  Unlike the carrots and potatoes who rose to the challenge of cold and wetter than normal conditions most of my onions developed rot. 

While these are of decent size - this is all that survived to tide me over to next year.

Ugh.....

The Garden Chronicles

 click on image to enlarge

The onions have been curing for about a month on a tarp in the machine shed.  Today I knocked the dirt off along with a layer of onion skin, snipped-off the shriveled tops and put them into cold storage in the garage adult beverage fridge.  They'll keep for more than a year under these circumstances.

The 2017 crop was much diminished as a consequence of rot.  I chalk it up to the cold and very wet conditions in the months leading up to harvest.

In other news I still have some Bibb lettuce that is holding-up nicely to the colder conditions.  The carrots are still in the ground as they'll sweeten-up a bit as the days grow shorter and colder.  However someone has been visiting after dark and browsing the carrot tops.

Yup, you guessed it.  

Gonna fix that problem before too long. 

Consider the Onion

From the Genus Allium - the onion plant has been grown and selectively cultivated for at least 7,000 years.   It is a biennial plant, but is usually grown as an annual.   The geographic origin of the onion is uncertain because the wild onion is extinct and ancient records of using onions span western and eastern Asia.  The first cultivated, farmed onions are the subject of much debate, but the two regions that many archaeologists, botanists, and food historians will point to are central Asia or Persia.  Pliny the Elder even wrote about the use of onions in Pompeii.  

The Onion Futures Act - passed in 1958 - bans the trading of futures contracts on onions in the United States. This prohibition came into force after farmers complained about alleged market manipulation.  

China and India produce about half of the world’s onions.  Wikipedia   

  

This is a Stuttgarter onion from the 2016 garden.  I was born in Stuttgart Germany so I have an affinity to this onion variety.  Our roots grow deep (pardon the pun).

 click on the onion for a better look

This deliciously pungent bulb is celebrating its first birthday as it was harvested a year ago and I pulled it from the fridge and took its picture as evidence of the incredible staying and storage power of the yellow onion if harvested, processed and stored carefully.  It’s really rather remarkable. I haven't purchased an onion in as long as I can remember.  Occasional shallot here and there - but onion, nope.     

These onions that were carefully excavated with a fork last weekend are now in the machine shed for drying on a tarp for about a month.  After that they will go into cold storage for use in the coming year.

The Garden Chronicles

I've been feeling like a field hand lately - and this last weekend offered no respite.

With my hand-held digger and plumb line I planted two rows of German Butterball potatoes...

click on image to enlarge

This yummy potato was introduced by David Ronniger in Moyie Springs, Idaho, in 1988.  Specializing in potato varieties popularized in pre-19^th century Europe - Ronniger’s variety has become one of the more popular potatoes of home gardeners and gourmet home cooks.  A member of the russet family this spud is characterized by a rich buttery flavor and is excellent roasted, mashed or in soups.  

And a couple of rows of Stuttgarter yellow onions...

The Stuttgarter onion is an heirloom variety that comes from Stuttgart, Germany.  As a classic storage onion it keeps really well.   

Feeling dusty and stiff but satisfied.  

Good therapy gardening is.

Cryin Shame

click image to enlarge

It's crying shame for sure.  Yup, those onions might just make you cry if you began to slice one.  But the real shame is that is the 2016 crop in it's entirety.

With all the rain we received this year about half of the onions developed root rot that made them unsuitable for table fare.  Sure I could have harvested them earlier and cut my losses but they would have been about half the size.

Six of one half a dozen of the other I suppose. 

These have been curing on a tarp in the machine shed for about a month and all I had to do is don my garden gloves, give them a rub to remove a layer of dry skin along with the dirt and snip-off the dried top.  

I'll bag them and put them in cold storage in the beer fridge in the garage.

Stuttgarter Onions

Man has it been wet.  The monsoons hardly pause for sufficient time to get the harvest in.

Last weekend I got the onions out of the ground and in the shed to cure. 

They'll remain here on the tarp to dry-out for several weeks after which I'll knock the dirt off of them and put them into cold storage for the duration.  In 40 degree darkness they'll keep for up to a year.

Worrisome to me was that some of the onions I pulled up had evidence of rot beginning at their root end.  I left those in the garden to compost but it is bad news for the onions in general.  Too much rain.

I'm fretting over the potatoes which haven't been harvested just yet.

Onions Anyone?

The harvest continues to be, well, you know, harvested.  Onion avalanche!

Two rows of Stuttgarter (from The Fatherland) yellow onions.

Dug them up with at pitchfork while the ground was soft from recent rains, Let them set for 24 hours to soak-up some sunshine then hauled them into the shed to finish curing.

click on the delicious yellow onions to enlarge

They're going to rest on this tarp for several weeks to dry-out after which I'll knock the rest of the dirt-off and store them in the crisper of the three fridges.  Sure, I know what you're thinking - three refrigerators?  Yup, plenty of harvesting to go and I haven't yet killed any deer.  

At 40 degrees and high humidity those onions will keep for more than a year.  Plenty of extras to go to the church food pantry.