Sunbathing: Curing Onions

I harvested all of my onions. They aren’t very big, that seems to be the theme of my vegetables this year. Oh well, we’ll call them shallots (more hoity-toity). This year I started red onions from seeds (they did the best, the biggest nicest onions). I also started yellow onions from sets. They’re all pretty small, I’m wondering if I can save some for sets next year?


So how do you know when to pick your onions? When the tops flop over, simple as that. When you notice they’ve flopped leave them in the ground for about 10 days. Then pull them and leave them in the sun for a day or two. Next, move them to a sheltered spot for a week or two to finish drying (turn them once a day to make sure all parts dry). Make sure you give them room to breath, I dry mine on my compost sifter in the garage, works perfectly. When they’re fully dry, pick out any thick-necked or soft bulbs and use them first. They are ready to store when the skins rattle and the roots are dry and wiry.
Anyone else have onion curing tips?

Filed under Edible, Onions | Comments (2)

Making the Bed

This past Thursday I cleaned out one of my raised beds. I harvested the carrots and cabbage and gave up on the broccoli that was growing in it. The carrots were teeny-tiny, which means I need to add more compost to the bed.

Since I plan on growing some Napoli carrots in this bed for over-wintering, I added several inches of compost and some Dr Earth Starter Fertlizer.

After smoothing out the soil I planting seeds late into the night (until I could no longer see the seeds or the holes in which to put them). So far I have planted 192 carrot seeds and I still have at least twice that many more to plant (I’ll be busy this evening). I’m looking forward to the sweet crunchy carrots this winter. I’m optimistic since this is my first time planting for winter harvest. I’m also growing kale and spinach for the winter. Wish me luck!

Have you planted anything for winter before?

Filed under Edible, Seed Sowing, Soil | Comments (4)

Here Comes the Harvest

Every day I have more and more tomatoes coming ripe. This year I’m growing only 2 kinds of tomatoes: Viva Italia and Lemon Boy. I have picked 4 lbs of Viva Italia so far and only 1 Lemon Boy.

So what am I doing with all these tomatoes? I’m planning on canning them later on, but right now we’re eating them as fast as I can pick them. We love them grilled and tossed with pasta or on top of a pizza.


What are you doing with all your ripe tomatoes?

Filed under Edible, Tomato | Comments (4)

Bunches of Beets

I harvested my beets this past week and I started some seeds for my fall harvest.

So what did I do with these beautiful beets? They were pickled. MMMMM, I love pickled beets.

Filed under Beets, Edible, Preservation | Comments (2)

Bring on the Salad Bowl

A few weeks ago I ordered some lettuce seeds. I started them on the 23 of July. I put them in the basement where it’s cool (lettuce likes cool weather). A couple days later they germinated and then under the grow lights they went. This is what they looked like on July 27th.
I can’t believe how quickly these seedlings grew. I think the secret this time was the Dr Earth Starter Fertilizer that I added to my seed starting mix. From now I’ll be using this with all my seeds.

Today the seedlings went outside on the back deck to get ready for planting in the garden. They’ll stay there a couple days to get used to the sun & wind.

So what kinds of lettuce do I have for our late summer & fall salad bowl?

Black Seeded Simpson

Green Jericho Romaine Lettuce

Simpson Elite Lettuce

Red Sails Lettuce

I also started some Red Ruby cabbage for the fall.

The spinach seeds I started haven’t germinated much yet. I have one that’s just starting to emerge.

I can’t wait for all these salads.

Filed under Edible, Lettuce, Seed Sowing | Comments (4)