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Countless healthy recipes and cooking techniques call for onions. There are three kinds of onions: short-day, intermediate-day and long-day. Make sure the varieties you choose match up with your hardiness zone. Hardiness Zones: 4-11 (Find your hardiness zone.) When to Plant: Purchase onion sets from a nursery and set them out in the garden in mid to late March. Dig a small hole for each bulb and plant it (neck upward). Cover it up with soil, allowing the tip of the neck to show through the soil surface. Conditions: Prepare the soil in advance with at least 2-4 inches of compost and well-rotted manure. Onions can deal with either thick or well-aerated soil. Space Needed: Plant each bulb about 10 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart. Maintenance: Be sure to keep the area weeded. When to Harvest: It's very easy to tell when onions are ready for harvest. A week after their tops yellow and then drop over, they are fully-grown! Loosen the soil with a garden fork and lay the onions on the ground to dry for a few days before using them. Average Yield: One onion bulb can grow to about 1-2 pounds, depending on variety. Continuous Yield: No Life Cycle: Annual Difficulty Rating (1-5): 2  |
