Choosing Onions to Grow

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How you like to use onions will help you to decide which onions to grow

When we go to the grocery store we see just a few types of onions, and most of us just toss a bag in the cart with no good sense of how they should best be used. So before even selecting specific varieties to grow, we need know the difference between the general types of onions.

Yellow Onions

This is what we typically see in the grocery store because they are a good onion for general cooking. Ideally they should be used in cooked sauces soups or stews. Of course we routinely slice them up for burgers, sandwiches and cold salads and pastas, and really they are just fine for that too.

Red Onions

Also widely available at the grocery store are red onions. They really are the best onion to eat raw. Use them sliced on burgers and sandwiches, diced or thin sliced in cold salads or in guacamole.

White Onions

If your grocer carries white onions you usually have to look for them in a smaller display. White onions have a great crunch and a terrific zingy flavor. Cooked or raw, use white onions for stir fries or salsas, anytime you want a sharp onion flavor.

Sweet Onions

I think sometimes sweet onions are confused with a yellow onion. But typically they do not have the brown papery skin, rather they are lighter colored and the skin is not so dry and papery. You might look at them and think yellow onion. But at least in the North, we look forward to wonderful sweet Vidalia Onions being available. They are fabulous frying onions for steaks or burgers, make exceptionally tasty onion rings and perfectly enhance roasted vegetables.

Shallots

Shallots are a small onion with lovely mild flavor. Use shallots to add subtle seasoning and light onion flavor to salad vinaigrette or garnish. Commonly used in French cooking. Flavor is somewhat reminiscent of garlic and looks like garlic cloves when you cut them open. If you don’t have shallots a yellow onion is your best substitute, or better yet a green onion.

Scallions/Green Onions

These mild flavored straight slender shaped onions are the same thing. The white stalk has a bright mild onion flavor and the green leaves a lighter fresh taste. Sometimes referred to as bunching onions but often confused with spring onions.

Spring Onions

A true spring onion is not a green onion at all. A spring onion has a true full white bulb. It is simply an onion that has not matured its bulb and is harvested early. The are mild whether eaten or cooked. The green stem of a true spring onion is not used for cooking or eating.

Best Onion Varieties to Grow

Once you decide the types of onions you want to grow you need to select some specific varieties. A trusted local nursery can help you with the varieties that produce most successfully in your region.

YELLOW ONIONS

  • Patterson is a four inch long day onion great for storing. Firm with great yield and uniformity, Patterson will store up to 12 months.

  • New York Early is a long day onion.It dependably produces onions early. It is on the tender side so it will not store as long as a firm onion.

  • Ailsa Craig is a wonderful long day heirloom. Mild, sweet and tender they are best for fresh eating but will store longer than most fresh eating onions.

RED ONIONS

  • Red Wing has great red color and holds up to long storage with very firm bulbs. This long day does mature late so try to grow these from transplants.

  • Red Bull is globe shaped long day red onion with high yields. Delicious for fresh eating or stores well up to 10 months.

  • Cabernet has a deep red color. A later intermediate day onion produces a large bulb sooner than the long days. Stores well up to 6 months.

WHITE ONIONS

  • Sierra Blanca is a large mild intermediate day onion. At 109 days to maturity it is pretty day neutral. It is best grown for fresh eating as it does not store well.

  • Spanish White, also known as Late White, matures 3 inch onions in about 110 days. This long day is great for the North and Midwest and should be considered a fresh eating onion. Great subtle sweet onion for salads and garnish.

SWEET ONIONS

  • Walla Walla are a very popular sweet onion with extra sweet mild flavor. This long day will produce somewhat smaller onions in northern and Midwest regions but will mature in about 90 days. When fall sown in warm regions they reach up to 6 inch in diameter. Perfect for fresh eating, they only store a month or two.

  • Utah Yellow Sweet Spanish is an intermediate day that can produce very large onions in about 115 days. These hail from Utah of course, and will do best in western regions. They will also store well.

SHALLOTS

  • Holland Red shallots are perfect for delicate sauces and cream soups.The white flesh is spicy and rich but mellows to mild when cooked. Be sure to cure as much as a month before storing to mellow out the flavor. Grown from bulb cloves.

  • Golden shallots have white flesh encased in golden yellow skins. Clusters of 7 to 10 bulbs are up to 2 inches in diameter. Well cured, they will also store well.

And there are so very many spring onion, bunching onion, green onion and scallion varieties available. Most are fairly similar but you might want to look for some of the more unique varieties to try. Availability of several varieties of onions to grow for fresh, storing or to harvest in July as young green onions may be limited in your local nurseries. But there are a few mail order nurseries that do an excellent job with onion varieties and even present specific varieties best for northern climates. Check out Territorial Seed Company and Johnny’s Selected Seed. I highly recommend both.

Sharon Dwyer