home grown onionsOut of all of the crops that I have grown, onions have probably been the easiest.  They can be grown from seeds or transplanted as sprouts.  Onions are pretty tolerant of soil conditions, pest and diseases.  That makes them a perfect choice for a home garden.

One of the more popular onions are the 10-15Y.  The 10-15 stands for the date that the onion seed should be planted – October 15th.  The “Y” stands for Yellow – as in Yellow Onion.

Local feed and fertilizer stores should get 10-15Y onion sprouts in around December or so.  If you do not want to plant from seed, just buy some sprouts and put them in your garden.

Use some organic potting soil, or manure for slow release nitrogen.  After the first month, throw some 21-0-0 around the onions and water very good.  The nitrogen will promote the growth of green shoots, which will be used by the onion to make the ball.

Somewhere around the middle of summer the tops of the onions will start to die.  That is when its time to dig up the onion ball and store in a cool dry place.  Or, you can dice the onions up and dehydrate them, or dice them up and store in the freezer.