Onions, Year Round?

I have this dream of having year round onions from my garden.

I’m not entirely sure if it’s even possible but I believe it is (and I really, really hope it is).

I don’t know why but it makes me happy to think about never having to buy another onion from the store again.  I’d really like not having to buy any vegetables from the store, but I’ll start small.

You know, baby steps.

And so, here is my plan.

There are 4 different types of onions that I am planning to grow. Regular bulbing types, green onions, potato onions, and Egyptian walking onions.

The last three are perennial where I live…can I just say that I love any plant that doesn’t need my attention. Or not much attention anyway.

So far I have green onions planted that have overwintered nicely in my garden for the last several years. I realize that this may or may not be the case in every climate but it works where I live.

I also have a few walking onions that I ordered in the spring. They have grown fairly well and now have their top bulbils ready to harvest.  In a few years, they should be a large clump that multiply each year.

  (photo courtesy of egyptianwalkingonion.com)

This fall I’m planning to order some potato onions and will allow them to multiply into a big group that self-perpetuates too.

Finally, I will plant regular bulbing types with long storage qualities as early I the spring as possible to get large storage onions that should easily last an entire year.

The ones I have tried so far have stored nicely in my garage for several months at a time. Maybe I’ll even attempt succession planting them or experiment with growing them at different times of the year and see what happens.

It should work, right?

In theory, it’s a fool-proof plan.

Here’s hoping that it works in practice because year round onions straight from the garden would be really, really cool.