Teach me about Walking Onions!??

[hoodat]

There are more varieties of multiplying onions than you might think. Many varieties are never for sale, they just get passed over the fence. Yours look like Egyptians. They are larger than most. I always toss a few into each jar of anything I pickle, especially bread and butter pickles and pickled beets. They add a mild onion flavor to the pickles. Egyptians don't multiply as fast as some of the others. They usually only have four or five stems per clump. You need to plant some of the top onions if you want more. The multipliers I have just keep adding new stems all Summer. In the Spring I just pull the clumps apart to thin them.
To grow more just pull off the onions and press the bottom part into the ground. Even if they fall on top of the ground they will root and grow if the soil is moist.

 

[the1honeycomb]

Wow i love all this education you are all sharing with me Thank you all and I hope that I can keep the plants grownig and not have to ever buy onions again!!

 

[897tgigvib]

When I lived at Montana, working at the greenhouse, there was an ole guy neighbor gardener named OLE ARLY. Ole Arly grew lots of Cabbages and even Melons, Tomatoes, Carrots, Strawberries, and some other things. Among those other things were walking onions he got from his wife's father, who's family brought them by covered wagon from "back east somewhere". Ole Arly gave some to Roxi. These were VERY STRONG ONIONS. Just about make your eyes water planting them. Now this kind made clusters of longish white onions. The middle one would die off and 2 or 3 side ones would take over. But it also made lots and lots of small onions on the flower stalk. I'd put a few into each 4" pot and start a flat of them for sale.

Concentrated onion!!!

Based on what Hoodat said, now I wonder if what we had was

OLE ARLY'S FATHER IN LAW'S CLUSTERING PERENNIAL CONCENTRATED WALKING ONION FROM SOMEWHERE BACK EAST

 

[the1honeycomb]

. Ha I love story like that!!!!

 

[canesisters]

OK! I have 14 giant 'walking onion' plants - each one has 5-10 small onions at the top - a couple of THEM have even smaller onions at the top.
I'm pulling them all this weekend. Going to try braiding the big ones to keep for later, and planting a few of the first generation little ones to start over.

Who wants some baby onions?

These are just like the ones I originally got. Just a little onion bulb - looks like a piece of garlic. I'll stuff some in a padded envelope and send them out to who ever wants some - as long as they last (and I can afford postage).

 

[majorcatfish]

that sounds interesting cane...you have a p/m