Onions

Walla walla onions cured in burlap sacks on pallets for storage.


Rotting walla wall onions that had to be discarded.


Cleaning and sorting walla walla onions on a Saturday morning.


White onions that have turned green from too much sun exposure and damaged by a pink mould.


The size of one of our larger walla walla onions - in short, huge!

Cleaning onions that have been curing in the field for storage.

We had a very successful onion harvest this year. At market, most people cannot believe the size of our onions in fact. I was not around when the onions were transplanted into the ground, which was over about a three week period in April, but I understand at that time there was some concern that not enough onions were being planted. This concern was misdirected because now we aren't even able to sell them fast enough before they spoil.

On the farm we grow five varieties of onions - walla walla, torpedo, red, white and yellow storage onions. In July and August, we were spot picking the first four varities for market. Then in late August we had to start pulling the walla walla onions, which are the sweetest onions we have, to prevent them from over ripening in the ground. To do this, we would literally pull the onions out of the plastic mulch and lay them in nice rows for a couple of days so that they could be dried out and cured by the sun. Once they were partially cured, we would then return and cut off the tops to store them in burlap sacks in the field so they could continue to cure. This would prevent them from having too much sun damage while they lay in the field. We then layed the sacks on pallets and put them in the shop to store.

Unfortunately walla walla onions are not good storage onions. They have a very high water content, and especially since our got so large, they contained even more water. A week ago, we had to go through four pallets that remained of the sacked walla wall onions to remove all those that were rotten, rotting or bruised because it was making the gathering of onions for market a very drawn out ordeal. At the end of the exercise, we had two big wood bins full of onions that were to be discarded. It was hard to see so much go to waste.

For the torpedo, red and storage onions, the process was similar, except that we first harvested the torpedo and red onions, because they do not store as well as the yellow storage (or cooking) onions. These we also let cure in the field under the sun for many more days. Once they were cured, we would dump them directl into wooden crates from the field, so they could be transported and put into storage with the tractor. With all onions, it was important to make sure that you were handeling them gently, because any bumping will cause bruising and subsequent rotting while they store if you are not careful.

One of the biggest concerns while the onions are laying in the field is rain. One weekend I was at the farm in September, it was forecasted to rain, so we were assigned to get the storage onions cleaned up and out of the field. It was a last minute forecast, and so we did not have the man power or foresight to get the job done in a timely way. As a result, myself and three of my colleagues were pruning and collecting storage onions in the light of the moon (as well as the light of our on farm kawasaki utility vehicles) until we were able to cover the rest with giant tarps to prevent them from being rained on. It was in these weeks that I really felt that you have to pull up your socks and get the work done which needs to get done - somehow.

Our white onions have been a bit of a failure. When we went to prune and collect the cured white onions for storage, we all noticed that the onions had developed bright pink patches on them. We are still unsure what it is and what caused it, but were unwilling to put the work into storing the onions if they are just going to go bad on us. We did collect one bin worth, but the onions had sat in the field for so long before the decision was made to save some of the crop, that the white onions turned green because of the light exposure. The remaining onions are still laying in the field, and we are told that gleaners might be called to come and salvage whatever they can from the field, but that we are not going to spend any more time on the white onions. I am still curioust o find out what the pink discoloration is on the outer shells of these onions.

In terms of perservation for the winter, storage onions can be eaten fresh almost all winter long. I have also taken the time to dehydrate a bag of onions and have even tried pickling some of the smaller walla wallas to eat as a condiment. The dehydrated onions are great for making salsa, because they absorb some of the extra liquid that is released when the tomatoes break down.

One more thing, apparently snakes, spiders and mice like to hang out in the onion patches. I am afraid of two of the stated creatures, so there was always an element of fear lurking in my mind while cleaning the onions. Here is a picture of one of the black widow spiders found while cleaning the onions.