#23. Growing Onions in Your Backyard
Onions are an essential in the kitchen, for cooking and salads. Onions make good companion plants and can be planted near chamomile and summer savory. It can also be planted with carrots, kohlrabi, beets, leeks, brassicas, tomatos, lettuce and dill. If you intercrop onions with the carrots and leeks you are going to keep the carrot and onion flies guessing!
You can plant onions with strawberries – it will help the plants fight off disease. Avoid planting onions nears asparagus, beans and peas. Onions are a good source of dietary fiber, manganese, vitamins C and B6, potassium and folate.
Onions are versatile plants and grow quite well in just about any climate. You can plan your onion patch to include different varieties coincident with their growing seasons. Onions are temperature sensitive and the beds should not be allowed to become too hot. Onions grow best in cool weather, but warm weather and direct sun help to speed up growth.
Onions need a non-acidic soil with a pH value of 6.0 to 7.0. You need to plan for advance preparation of the onion beds. Mix well rotted manure into the soil in large quantities. Failing that, a large quantity of compost needs to be added to the soil.
Onion planting is divided into three categories: early, mid-season and late maturing. Early varieties need to be planted in mid to late summer; mid-season varieties are planted in autumn and the late maturing ones in late autumn to early winter.
Onion seeds are sown directly into the ground. But you can transplant seedlings into your seed beds as well. Make sure the seedlings are about five inches in height when you transplant. Onions should be planted about three inches apart with one inch space between each row.
Watering the plants needs to be done evenly and consistently. A lack of water will cause the bulbs to split apart and will also hinder growth. Fertilize the garden soil before you plant the onion seeds. Another round of fertilization will be required mid-way through the growing season. Animal manure or bone meal has proven to be the best type of fertilizer for onions. If you cannot get either, go with complete compost. Avoid over-fertilizing because this will give you plenty of leaves rather than bulbs.
When the bulbs are nearly complete, you need to scrape away the soil and expose the bulbs to the air and sunlight. The leaves will start to turn yellow and you can bend them back on one side to expose the bulbs. Once the leaves are dead, leave the onions to dry for some time before harvesting them.