How to Store Onions
You've grown your own organic onions, and got a great harvest, now you
need to store them so they will keep for as long as possible.
Here are some tips on keeping onions fresh and useable for a long time.
- Many years, if you've fertilized your onions with wood ashes and glacial rock dust, this will give them the potential for longer storage.
- Harvesting
them correctly is also a factor in the storage potential. They need to
be pulled from the ground when they're dry (reduce or eliminate
irrigation beforehand) and then put into a dry place in a single layer
to cure. I use my greenhouse, on a shady bench, for this.
- In some areas, the drying leaves are braided together and the
braid hung in a cellar. This might give you an indication of the right
kind of conditions they need - dry air, and not touching each other.
- If onions start to sprout in storage - don't put them in the
compost yet! You can chop the green parts as - you guessed it - green
onions! The bottom of the bulb will grow roots if you want to keep it
going a bit longer - put it in a narrow jar or vase, snip the greens for
as long as it grows, for a taste of spring in your hard boiled egg
sandwiches, or quiche.
- Don't refrigerate onions to store them, this just encourages them to grow when they're taken out.
- When you cut an onion and use part of it for cooking, the rest
of it should last at least a few days in a clean yogurt container in the
fridge.
Onions generally don't last long in my house because I use them for
cooking throughout the winter, but following these tips will ensure that
I have fresh onions until March or so.
Apparently, you can also
freeze them - chop them, put them in a bag or freezer container, and use
them within six months. Or, make soup or stew with lots of delicious
onions, and freeze that in air tight containers.
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Frill Free
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Growing Vegetables
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How to Store Onions
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