Grow your own Onions

Onions are the mainstay of most winter soups and stews. Sow your onion seeds now and you’ll have an ample supply once winter arrives.

Step-by-step guide to growing your own onions :

• Choose a spot in your garden that gets full sun for most of the day.
• Dig up the soil well, adding a spadeful of compost and general fertiliser per square metre.
• Sow your onion seeds 1cm under the soil in rows 20cm apart (the eventual size of the onion depends on the spacing between the rows so don’t skimp on this).
• Water if the weather remains dry and feed with a weak solution of 2.3.2 fertiliser.
• Stop watering and feeding when the onions start to swell. Remove any soil or mulch to expose the bulbs to the sun.
• Onions have very shallow root systems, so they are unable to compete with weeds for water. Make sure you keep your onion patch well weeded.
• Onions are ready to harvest when the foliage turns yellow and starts to collapse. The foliage should rustle when you touch it.
• Harvest by pushing a garden fork underneath the bulb and then prying it out by its neck.
• Place your onions in a sunny spot to dry out, with their bases facing upwards. Once the skins are totally dry they can be stored in a cool, dry place.

Did you know? Onions are an age-old food source. Traces of onion remains have been found alongside fig and date stones dating back to 5000 BC.