Why aren't Japanese Bunching Onions more Popular?

[freemotion]

I have a permanent bed of bunching onions and am trying to get it to expand, we love them so much. I slice them up and throw them in the freezer. No chicken soup tastes right without scallions!

 

[digitS']

Freemotion, that is in Western Massachusetts . . . so, probably a zone 6 winter?

Onion family plants have soooo much "tolerance" for weeds. I wonder how that works. One of the reasons, okay, the primary reason I got rid of the walking onions several years ago was because they had allowed quack grass to thoroughly invade their growing space.

.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

It is amazing how bunching onions can stand there with only the tips showing above the weeds and keep on growing. Of course they're smaller when you allow that to happen. A heavy mulch should get bunching onions through even the toughest Winter. They produce sort of a natural anti freeze by turning all the starches to sugar with the first frost.

 

[digitS']

We have wild onions around here near the rivers in sunny, grassy areas. It is impossible to know that the wild onions are there . . . until they bloom.

There they are along with the grass widows and camas, happily living amongst the grass.

I've pried them out of the ground and they couldn't be much smaller - a chive is larger!

I wonder what a wild onion could do if it had its own, say, 12 cubic inches of soil to grow in . . ?

Steve

. . . sugar anti-freeze, you say?

 

[hoodat]

You ever try to eat wild ramps? Talk about knock you on your butt strong. WHEW!!

 

[freemotion]

Freemotion, that is in Western Massachusetts . . . so, probably a zone 6 winter?

Onion family plants have soooo much "tolerance" for weeds. I wonder how that works. One of the reasons, okay, the primary reason I got rid of the walking onions several years ago was because they had allowed quack grass to thoroughly invade their growing space.

.

Steve

I do weed my onions. My grandmother grew them in Northern Maine, zone 3 or lower, and my zone is 4-5, although we have had some deep freezes the past few years that killed many perrenials that were decades old.

If they get too weedy, you can always let them go to seed, collect the seeds, and move them over to a new bed, I suppose. I love 'em! Oh, and I also ferment them, along with freezing. It all depends on how much space I have, whether I have freezer space or second fridge space. You can also layer them with salt and put them in the fridge without fermenting them. That is what my grandmother did. You can also pack more into those jars of salted scallions every few days as they soften and settle into the jar. It is amazing how many will fit in a small space!

 

[digitS']

. . . I love 'em! Oh, and I also ferment them, along with freezing. It all depends on how much space I have, whether I have freezer space or second fridge space. You can also layer them with salt and put them in the fridge without fermenting them. That is what my grandmother did. You can also pack more into those jars of salted scallions every few days as they soften and settle into the jar. It is amazing how many will fit in a small space!

Whoa!

Do they know about you over there in the Self-Sufficiency forum?!?

S'

 

[hoodat]

That's a new one on me. I never heard of fermenting onions. Do you use them in cooking or eat as is?

 

[freemotion]

Whoa!

Do they know about you over there in the Self-Sufficiency forum?!?

S'

Ha-ha, they are probably pretty sick of me over there.....

That's a new one on me. I never heard of fermenting onions. Do you use them in cooking or eat as is?

I cook with them, not being a big fan of raw onions (except a few scallions in a "spring salad" of leaf lettuce, salt, and sour cream!). I like the fermenting method because it uses far less salt than the salting method while still preserving them for months and getting me through the winter without taking up valuable freezer room. Also, they are in a jar, so the smell/taste of onions doesn't migrate to other foods, as it can in a ziploc in the freezer.