Onion, perfectly good

[digitS']

I live in a house that was build 100 years ago. That is, the front rooms of the house were. The basement and the rooms above it were added later but there is a room directly under the living room floor. It was used for food storage and there are shelves. The walls are concrete and rock but the floor is dirt - or what passes for dirt around here: gravel .

I use this room to store dahlia roots, gladiola bulbs, potatoes and onions during the winter.

We just carried some of our 2010 potato harvest down to that room.

In a basket, in the "cold room," in the basement . . . what do we find:

onion from 2009

Have you had experiences like this? It seems to be a perfectly good yellow storage onion!

Steve

 

[vfem]

Oh wow... that is fabulous luck. We are WAY too warm here for something like that to happen. Not many well insulated cool spaces.

 

[digitS']

Get me your address, V, and I can get it in the mail for you !

I have literally been harvesting onions for months - scallions, anyway. Sweet onions began to bulbed up about 2 weeks ago and they are a good deal bigger than this little guy. But . . . there he is .

I can be pretty sure where he came from. He is from a set that was planted amongst the tomato plants. They overwhelm the onions and there are always a few that aren't harvested until after frost kills the tomatoes.

Otherwise, my storage onions in '09 were mostly the Sterling Whites I bought from Dixondale Farms and set out as plants. They were lovely but sure weren't capable of lasting 10 or 12 months!!

I'm changing my mind, V. I'm cutting him up to put on something. Sorry! All in the interest of improving my understanding of the science of food storage, you understand.

Steve

 

[digitS']

It was a poignant moment. Yes, there were tears. But, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this onion.

I sauteed it in a little vegetable oil, dropped in some small meatballs with some stock and noodles. Enjoyed it with whole grain toast for a late lunch. (DW bought me brunch at the hospital cafeteria at 9:30 . She claims it's "too hot to tie strings" in the garden so, I'm taking the day off.)

I'm a little reluctant to tell you about a similar experience to this long-storage of an onion. Last year, I didn't grow celeriac even tho' it is something of a regular in the garden and I enjoyed it right into summer . . !

Celeriac begins re-growing even before the carrots in their storage "box" in the winter garden. I have to uncover them beneath the pile of pine needles and soil about the 1st of March, clean them up and bring them in to store in the fridge. We finally realized that we had to make a big pot of soup with the last of them in July!

I missed having them over winter especially with mashed potatoes. This year, there are more celeriac plants in the garden than I can shake a potato masher at !

ETA: I checked the thermometer in the basement cool room. It is 64 right now - it's well over 90 outside. During subzero weather, the temperature has been as low as 35. You can imagine, I get a little nervous when it's that cold with all those roots down there thru the winter. Usually, it stays about 45 to 50. There's no special insulation.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

I have visions of a childrens book,"The Lonely Little Onion". It's guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes.

 

[ducks4you]

It was a poignant moment. Yes, there were tears.

But, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this onion.

I sauteed it in a little vegetable oil, dropped in some small meatballs with some stock and noodles. Enjoyed it with whole grain toast for a late lunch.

Steve

With all of the work I do harvesting to SHARE from my garden, I think the BEST TIMES are when you make a little something for yourself.