Tag Archives: Onions

Egyptian Walking Onions

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Egyptian walking onion bulbils

Who doesn’t love food they only have to plant once? Perennial vegetables and fruit are the gift that keeps on giving. I love planning my annual gardens but I love the security of knowing those plant-once-and-I’m-done varieties are out there year after year, growing, spreading and producing food with little oversight from me. 

Between the perennial herbs, the asparagus that’s finally really gotten going, the rhubarb, the strawberries, the pecans, the blueberries, the figs, grapes, all the forage worthy weeds and whatever else I’m forgetting, I know we have SOMETHING to eat… even before I start planning the annual garden each year. 

The Egyptian walking onion is one that I wouldn’t go without! A perennial onion! I can harvest it here year round. 

Egyptian walking onions

I grew up in a home where onions weren’t preferred by my parents so I didn’t see a lot of them in their cooking. When I moved out and learned to cook, I fell in love with onions! Naturally, I grow them in the garden now. It was amazing discovering a perennial option that I didn’t have to cure and store and baby sit, watching for any going bad, getting frustrated when they would start to sprout before I had another crop ready. Now I still plant “regular” onions, I just don’t stress as much about making sure I have a whole years supply. Variety in a garden is important. Also, can I just say, they are so fun to watch grow! Everyone who has visited the garden has thought their Dr Seuss-like appearance is just so interesting. I find myself out there taking pictures of them because I’m ever amazed at their growing habits.

These perennial onions go by a few names. Egyptian walking onion, top set onions, tree onions, and winter onions.  They are said to have been native originally to Pakistan or India and later brought to Europe by Romans. They are a cross between the cultivated onion and the Welsh onion. Being cold and heat hardy, they grow well in zones 3-10 and grow best in full sun but can tolerate partial shade. 

Typically you would plant these in the fall, though I’ve planted them throughout the spring and summer seasons just fine. They do take a little longer to get going but it’s of course worth it.
All parts of the plant are edible. You can harvest the tops like scallions or chives and there are bulbs below the ground as well as small ones that sprout out of the top.
They produce a top set called bulbils. These are just a cluster of onion bulbs. You can eat these or plant more. Before long, you will be asking your friends and neighbors if they want any of your extra tops sets to plant! 

They get their name from their tendency to “walk.” The cluster of bulbils will become heavy and fall over to the ground where they will root and grow more. To keep them in control, you simply just harvest them. You can replant them where you want or bring them in for dinner. I have a couple growing in my pathways right now I need to go tend to. 

I snagged these in a local gardening group and split the bag wit a friend. Now we both have a lifetime supply of perennial food!

To plant them you just separate the bulbs and plant not more than an inch deep, pointy end up, 4-6 inches apart. 

You can divide up the clumps of established onions to harvest or replant and use the top sets for eating or planting. 

Over the winter they may die back depending on how cold you get but will return with all its glory in the spring.  Here they don’t die back much and I can continue to enjoy them throughout the winter months. 

The bulbils will last in your dark pantry or root cellar stored for a few months after curing. Just watch them and pull out any that are going bad. They aren’t the best for storage but they do ok. Never store potatoes with onions. 

If you’re looking for more perennials to add to your garden, you should definitely consider finding a little corner… or a BIG corner… for the Egyptian Walking Onion!

Having trouble finding them to order? Contact me and I just may be able to set you up with some!

Happy Homesteading!

Planting Onions in the Fall

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Every spring, all the big box stores are loaded up with all you could want for your spring and summer garden. They are over flowing with bulbs and flowers and asparagus crowns and seed potatoes and onion sets. They have overflowing shelves of grape, raspberry, and blackberry vines, blueberry bushes, fruit trees and TONS of veggie and herb starts. After winter, we are more than eager to get out there, get our hands dirty, and feel the warmth of the sun. We dream of counters full of fresh produce from our gardens and fantasize about all the canning we will do.

Summer comes. It’s hot. There’s bugs. There’s weeds. Maybe parts of our gardens didn’t go as planned. Pests, disease, and low yields have us frustrated but we have other huge successes and pantry shelves full of home canned veggies and jams and mason jars filled with ferments and dehydrated goodies. Freezers stocked full of vacuum sealed produce. We’ve spent countless evenings washing and chopping and dicing and preparing canning jars. We’ve worked our butts off ya’ll! We are sunburned and tired.

Fall arrives and you could take a break. You could rip out that summer garden, put it to bed and just sit back. You could and that would be ok. BUT you would be missing out on so much!  Unless you live in some of the coldest regions, there is a huge opportunity to make that garden work for you even longer! Many of those things you planted for your spring garden can be planted again for the fall!

For some reason, those big box stores don’t seem to show the same enthusiasm for fall gardening as they do in the spring. Those same shelves that were overflowing in the spring now look more like an afterthought. A few racks of brassicas and no more seed packets to be found… maybe a little rack with some flower bulbs for spring. They have to make room for those giant Halloween and Christmas inflatables!

So skip those stores and head to a local nursery (that’s where you ought to be spending your dollars anyway!) Yes, they will be full of pumpkins and mums, but you’re going to find all that you need for a great fall garden as well!

I stopped in a local (ok it’s still kind of a hike from where I live) nursery in VA beach the other day and got a truckload of dirt to fill raised beds I just made and am getting ready for spring when I saw tons of onion sets!

Onion sets are just small onion bulbs about the size of a large marble that were grown from seed in the previous season. Onion sets provide the easiest way to grow full sized onions.
Onion sets are easily found in the spring at every nursery including those big box stores but you don’t always see them for fall gardening.
I grabbed a bunch of yellow and red onion sets and headed home to find a row to plant them in!

Planting Onions

You can plant onions just about any time of year especially if you are growing for green onions but I plant mine around the same time as the garlic.
Prepare your soil by making sure its loose and weed free. Amend your soil with compost and/or your fertilizer of choice. I sprinkle in some blood and bone meal just like I do the garlic and plant 4-6 inches apart to give them room to grow into big onions. This takes about 14 weeks for spring planting but will take a bit longer for fall planting. Bury them only 1-2 inches deep, pointy end up, and mulch them lightly with straw, pine straw, fallen leaves, etc. This will help them hold in moisture, insulate them from the cold, and help prevent weeds.
Now you can sit back and wait. Onions are on their way.

Long Day and Short Day Onions
You may have heard the term ‘long day’ and ‘short day’ onions before. Which do I get? Onions are sensitive to the amount of daylight they get. Different varieties of onions have been bred for different parts of the country. The farther north you live, the longer the days are in the summer. If you draw an imaginary line between North and South Carolina across the country to San Francisco and you fall above that line, go ahead and plant long day onions. Plant short day onions if you fall below that line. If you’re right on that line, you may be able to get away with either. Experiment and see what works best for you.

Day-Neutral Did you know there was such thing?

There are also varieties that grow well regardless of the day length. These varieties are sometimes referred to as Indeterminate.

Which Onions varieties keep well?

Yellow, white, and Red Onions are your best keeper varieties. They have a lower water content than sweeter varieties and a higher sulfur content (that’s the stuff that gets you cryin’ when you’re cuttin’)
These varieties store well long term but don’t limit yourself to only these varieties! If you choose to grow onions that don’t store well long term, simply use those first before using your keeper onions or don’t plant as many. 

Most storage onions can keep at least 8 months but can last up to a year in the right conditions. Keep them dry, out of light, and away from potatoes. Potatoes and onions each emit a gas that makes the other go bad faster. Also keep the onions out of the fridge. Inspect the onions regularly and pull out any that are starting to get soft or go bad. One bad onion will start to spoil the rest pretty quickly.

Now go plant some onions and…
Happy Homesteading!