Wish I had planted more....

[lesa]

Onions! It seems like enough, but it is no where near what I will need for winter. I planted white and yellow sets. Both did well, however, the whites are not storing well at all. Seem to be rotting from the inside. I hate to devote 2 whole rows to onions- but I think I have to.
What do you wish you planted more of??

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know this is not your question, but I took the yellow onions that normally store so poorly for me (I did not grow whites this year), chopped them, tray froze them so they are not frozen into a solid lump, vacuum-packed them, and put them back in the freezer. After the fresh onions run out or start to go bad (red onions by the way. They store better) I'll open a vacuum pack and keep them in a zip loc type bag in the freezer, using them as I need them. I like those yellow Texas Sweets, but they do not store well at all for me.

I usually do not regret how much I plant of anything. Oh, sometimes I would have tweaked it a bit if I had known, but usually if they do well I have plenty and if they don't do well, having planted twice as much would not have made a significant difference. This year, I could have planted a lot less eggplant, but practically everything else did so poorly, I don't know of anything I would have planted more of. Maybe sweet peppers. They did real well and I have plenty grilled and frozen for the next year, but they keep real well and I could have had two or three year's worth in case next year is a bad year for them.

 

[lesa]

Ridegerunner, when I grow more onions next year- I will definitely freeze them. I did that last year, with the onions that didn't look like they would last- and it worked out great. May end up doing it this year with the whites, if we don't use them up quickly.

 

[digitS']

I think the birds would have appreciated me growing some more foxtail millet:

I started to pretend that harvesting this grain crop would require me to carry it out in 2 armloads but I couldn't quite justify that. I neglected to plant wheat for the 1st time in about 10 years and only grew about this much millet last year. Moreover, I am unwilling to share the oats with the birds! Good thing that there is a fair amount of sunflowers out there yet .

Lesa, onions don't require much room if you have a bed you could plant them in. I'd suggest mixing them in with your other vegetables but that may or may not work well. They are bullied fairly easily by the other plants and that restricts their growth. If I can remember tomorrow I will take a picture of some Ovation onions that I've been neglecting to bring in to dry in the backyard. They are nearly touching in a bed.

Steve

 

[TanksHill]

I am a bit off on my sturdy keepers. I managed quite a few butternut but my spaghetti squash did not perform. I really like to stock up ad bake them trough the winter.

g

 

[digitS']

Ah, yes! Winter squash.

I have so seldom had a good enuf winter squash growing season that the squash can keep thru January . . . Maybe I'll try washing them with bleach & water and see if I can get one to St. Patrick's Day again . The squash patch is quite a mess but I'd be willing to grow more if they would just keep a little longer :/.

Here is the very last of the storage onions still in the garden, Lesa. Out of this little section, probably 4 or 5 have already been pulled. Still, you can see how close these Ovation onions have been grown together. I should have dropped my knife there for perspective but they are mostly about 2" to 3" onions.

Nitrogen-rich fertilizer is about all they want.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Yeah, I should have put more onions in also...instead of watermelon...sigh.
Well the chickens have enjoyed the few melons that grew, even if they weren't ripe.

What I am gonna plant more of next year is potatoes! I love growing potatoes.
And I can totally justify the space because we eat them nearly every day.
I love to scrub them up and give them away,even though I'm pretty certain the thrill is one sided, I mean, people appreciate that I grew them and shared, but they probably don't gaze at them in wonder and admire the pearliness of their skin and the heft of them in their hand.
They are just potatoes you know!

Well now you know why people skirt around me cautiously, haha.

We had some friends over for a meal last weekend and started talking about gardens and potatoes. They didn't realize their mistake until I had launched into a rapturous report on my potato patch this year .
I couldn't believe they didn't know the named variety of the potatoes they planted! Can you imagine?!
The mealtime serenity was restored when my husband gave me THE LOOK (THE LOOK means "peoples eyes are glazing over, change the subject" ).

 

[GardenWeasel]

Mississippi silver peas and Christmas limas. These are about the only plants in the bean family that are not destroyed by the beetles. If I am ever able to get snap beans I will have to take my chances and start my main crop a little earlier than I feel it is warm enough.

 

[GardenWeasel]

Thistlebloom, I too love my potatoes. Many more going in next year now that I have found a less expensive straw source. I usually bore everyone to tears about what I am growing for the chickens. I am also prone to go on and on about heirloom corn. I will have to mark my potatoe rows so my husband can find them after the weeds take over.

 

[lesa]

Steve, I like your idea. I think you are right- they can go closer together. I was in the habit of planting them in a line, in a row. Geez, I hardly plant anything like that (just ask Dh), so why the onions?? My garden is all raised rows, but I can still fit two onions next to each other or some other pattern. I could have twice the harvest in the same amount of space! I like that kind of thinking! I saved seeds this year, so next year will be my first attempt at starting onions from seed....
I really love growing, eating and talking about potatoes!! I find digging in the dirt to harvest potatoes, like a treasure hunt!