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Maximizing the Harvest

February 15th, 2014

I grow most of my own onions, as a result I end up with some smaller onions that can be a bit of a pain to peel if you need lots of onions for a recipe. These smaller onions are perfect for making stock.
Onions
Onion peels contain a lot of vitamins/minerals but they’re not very palatable as is. Throwing them in stock is the perfect way to glean some of that nutrition. Some people I know even save all their onion skins in a bag in the freezer along with carrots peels and celery trimmings to use when making stock. I love using them because I can make use of even more of what I grow in the garden.

Do you use your vegetables trimmings for making stock?

12 Comments to “Maximizing the Harvest”
  1. Marina C on February 15, 2014 at 8:03 am

    I do exactly that, all the trimmings go in a bag, unless I am making roast chicken, then they sit aside until after dinner, and stock is ready to go right in the pan the chicken roasted in. None of the good chicken bits are wasted that way.
    The only vegetables I do not put in stock are the brassicas.
    What onions to you grow for keeping, Suzy? Cobras?

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  2. bangchik and kakdah on February 15, 2014 at 8:41 am

    Huh.. never realise that onion peels contain a lot of vitamins, so I have to persuade Kakdah…… :)

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  3. Nebraska Dave on February 15, 2014 at 9:27 am

    Susy, Hmmm, I never thought about making stock out of skins and peels. I just always threw them away. It gives me a whole new perspective on making stock. Actually, I never made vegetable stock only turkey stock from the bones left after the turkey has been gobbled up.

    My onion transplants from a few days ago were so cute. They had teeny tiny little onion bulbs right above the roots and a nice pencil lead green stem. I was quite surprised at how much root system they already had. I’m not sure how big mine will grow but it doesn’t matter. I’m still amazed that they are growing and doing well. Cabbages will be planted real soon.

    I hope storm PAX didn’t hit you too hard. We just got maybe a couple inches at most then a 50 degree day the next day melted it all.

    Have a great seed starting day.

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  4. Sara on February 15, 2014 at 9:36 am

    I *just* ran out of our last storage onions, but I was able to pry a leek out of the still-frozen hoop yesterday :)

    I do save the tops of leeks, and odd-shaped carrots, etc. for soup. Onion skins is a good idea–it gives stock such a nice color.

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  5. Adelina Anderson on February 15, 2014 at 10:07 am

    Sometimes I use the onion skins for stock. But with Easter coming up, we save them to use as dye for the eggs. It makes a beautiful pale golden color.

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  6. Jodi on February 15, 2014 at 10:16 am

    I always compost the skins, but I think I will start saving them for stock. On a different note I notice your onions have a little green starting. All of my garlic has tiny green shoots starting too. I was thinking I was storing them wrong, but I probably am not. It’s just that time of year that they want to get growing!

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  7. DebbieB on February 15, 2014 at 11:03 am

    Brilliant! I make stock, but hadn’t thought of using the peels and trimmings and gleaning their nutrition. Better to directly benefit from their vitamins and nutrients than to toss them in the compost. I’ll start tossing them in the freezer, thanks for the idea!

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  8. Natasha on February 15, 2014 at 11:06 am

    That’s brilliant!

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  9. Katherine on February 15, 2014 at 11:41 am

    Yes, I always save my carrot, onion and celery bits for stock. I just made chicken stock last night. I dumped the whole quart bag of veggie trimmings from the freezer into the stock pot, along with a baggie of chicken bones. I had just run out of stock and now I have 9 almost quarts of stock for the freezer!

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  10. Lorna on February 15, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    I love using onion peels in stock; they give it such a nice color. Lately though, I’ve noticed my stock doesn’t taste quite right–I use organic chicken when I can, or antibiotic-free if that’s all that’s available. Both seem to have a ‘funny’ taste, maybe just more bland than I’m used to? I was wondering if other people have this problem too, or if I need to start raising my own meat birds!

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  11. Donau on February 15, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    Peeling your carrots? Is it odd that I don’t peel my carrots? I have not peeled carrots for years. I always thought it was wasteful. On an other trimming note. I put all of my potato waste into my septic. Its excellent for for a septic tanks health.

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  12. Trace on February 15, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    I save all my skins for dyeing cloth, wool and silk oh and the carrot tops work beautifully as well.

    Reply to Trace's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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