Green Onion Benefits and Growing Tips

I just bought my Walla Walla sweet onion sets, some shallots (which were $6.99/lb at Market of Choice so I decided that I would grow my own), and green onions.  I am all ready to plant them, but I thought I better figure out HOW!!

I use a lot of shallots or green onions in my cooking for a little flavor and color, but I never realized they were so good for me.  Here is a little poster that explains some of their benefits.

 

GROWING GREEN ONIONS -- TIPS AND TRICKS
These tips come from the Veggie Gardner Website.

 

Green Onions have an almost unlimited amount of uses and are very easy to grow. Green onions can be grown from seed or as sets. I love green onions in soups, salads, on top of a nice steak, used as a baked potato topping, and many other ways. Green onions are also referred to as bunching onions, and have a milder onion taste than storage onions.

They are actually immature onions that are harvested before the bulb matures. The green onion features a dark green stem (also called scallions) and a white bulb with roots. Both parts of the onion are edible.  There are several different cultivars of green onion including, 'Evergreen Long White', 'Parade', and 'Red Baron' to name a few.

Planting Green Onions

Image from www.veggiegardner.com

Plant onion seed as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Onion seeds germinate in a wide range of soil temperature, between 65° F and 86° F. 

Sow and cover seed with ½” of soil and keep moist. Seeds can be started indoors 6-8 weeks prior to planting. They can be set in the garden about 1-1½” apart. To plant onions sets, simply press sets into the soil about 2″ apart.

Onions benefit from full sun, a soil pH of 6.0-7.5 and a well drained soil with plenty of premium compost or well rotted manure added. Feed with a complete balanced fertilizer during the growing season.

Maintaining Green Onions

Once your green onions have sprouted become well established, they are pretty easy to maintain.
Green onions generally need about one inch of water per week. If green onions are grown in rows, or raised beds, soaker hoses can be used for irrigation. It’s also a good idea to mulch around the plants to conserve soil moisture and suppress weeds.

The soil should be moist, but not soggy. A great way to check to see if your green onions need watering is the finger test.  Simply stick your finger in the soil down to the second knuckle near the green onion plan. If the soil feels moist there is no need to water. If the soil feels dry go ahead and water well.  Repeat the finger test once a week depending on how much rainfall you have received.
Green onions can also be grown successfully in containers. Soil in containers can dry out quickly during very hot summer temperatures, so you may need to water them up to three times per day if rainfall amounts are inadequate.

Allowing the soil to dry out too much can cause the onion bulbs to also dry out.
Also, make sure the container has good drainage holes. You want to avoid soggy soil in containers, too. Getting the watering amounts down right may take some practice, but it’s not too difficult.

Harvesting Green Onions

Green onions are best picked when they are young and tender. Dig or pull them when the tops reach between 6-8″ tall and the bulb have begun to swell.

To use as dried bulbs, wait until the green tops have withered and browned, then stop watering. Most green onions are ready to harvest between 70-90 days.

When you are slicing or preparing a green onion, leave about 1″ above the root. This section can be re-planted into the soil. Place the root section about 1″ deep in the soil, root side down, and lightly cover the top with soil.

The root section will then re-sprout the green tops within a couple weeks. This process can be repeated several times with the same root section.  A great way to “recycle” your green onions!

Pests & Diseases of Green Onions

Pests and diseases are rare for the home grown green onion, but they can become susceptible to maggots, thrips, and soilborne diseases. Use crop rotation to avoid these issues.

The Importance of Eating Spinach plus Recipe

I HATE SPINACH!!! ... or at least I thought I did.  What I hated was cooked spinach ... all stinky and slimey ... ewwwww!!

My latest discovery is that I DO like spinach ... as long as it is RAW!!  The following poster from the Healthy Food web site tells us how good spinach is for us!  I know, people have always said that, but this is the first time I have really eaten spinach so I am paying attention this time.

Here is a great summer salad using spinach and strawberries ... who knew they made such a great combination.  This recipe comes from the Mother Nature Network.

 

           Strawberry Spinach Summer Salad

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 bundle fresh spinach
• 1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled

 

Time estimates

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Directions

1. Rinse veggies thoroughly.
2. Combine vinegar and oil in small jar. Close lid and shake well.
3. Over medium-high heat add dab of oil to saucepan. After one minute add almonds. Stir for five or six minutes or until light brown.
4. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Add feta. Toss gently and serve.

Serves 4

Growing Potatoes plus Recipe

We are getting ready to plant our potatoes next weekend. I found this great chart on FB for other novice farmers (like us).  I am also including a low fat potato recipe from Eating Well Magazine.

(P.S. The typo on the chart is theirs not mine -- they must have gone to school with Dan Quayle)

 

ROASTED POTATOES AND GREEN BEANS

Image from Eating Well Magazine

http:://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/new_potatoes_green_beans.html
From EatingWell: March/April 2011

Whoever said potato salad needs to be cold? For this warm version, new potatoes are roasted right alongside green beans, then tossed in a tangy champagne vinegar and Gorgonzola dressing. If you like, you can toss in some baby arugula.

           
6 servings, about 3/4 cup each | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds new or baby potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallion greens

Preparation

1. Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 450°F.
2. Toss potatoes and green beans in a large bowl with 2 teaspoons oil, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are tender and golden and the green beans are tender and browned in spots, 25 to 35 minutes.
3. Whisk the remaining 3 teaspoons oil, vinegar and mustard in a large bowl. Stir in cheese and scallion greens.
4. When the vegetables are done, toss with the dressing in the bowl. Serve warm.

Nutrition

Per serving :151 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 3 mg Cholesterol; 23 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 295 mg Sodium; 567 mg Potassium
1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat

The Couch Potato's Guide to Growing Spuds




Image from sweetlifegarden.com

 

I am so excited.  We are buying our potato “seeds” this weekend and a-planting-we-will-go!!  We have decided on German Butterball, Yukon Gold, Sangre (red potato), Russian Banana (fingerling) and Georgia Jet (sweet potato).

Potatoes are about the easiest crops to grow. You can even grow them in a bag of potting soil, without really dirtying your hands. To do that, cut a few drainage holes at the bottom of a bag of potting soil, then stand the bag someplace sunny. Bury two "seed potatoes"  about 4 inches deep, and wait about 3 months for them to grow. When flowers start to appear, tip the bag over and dig out the potatoes. To keep the harvest going long into the fall, plant a new set of seed potatoes every few weeks.

Here is a great article from Organic Gardening Magazine on other ways to plant those spuds!!

Hilled Rows

Dig straight, shallow trenches, 2 to 3 feet apart, in prepared soil. Plant seed potatoes 12 inches apart and cover with about 3 inches of soil. When the shoots reach 10 to 12 inches tall, use a hoe or shovel to scoop soil from between rows and mound it against the plants, burying the stems halfway. Repeat as needed through the growing season to keep the tubers covered.

Pros: No containers to buy or build; no soil to transport. This is a simple, inexpensive, and proven method that farmers have used for millennia. Practical for large-scale plantings.

Cons: Yield may be limited by the quality of the soil. In places where the soil is badly compacted or low in organic matter, one of the aboveground techniques might work better.

Straw Mulch

Place seed potatoes on the surface of prepared soil, following the spacing specified for hilled rows, and cover them with 3 to 4 inches of loose, seed-free straw. Mound more straw around the stems as they grow, eventually creating a layer a foot or more in depth.

Pros: The thick mulch conserves soil moisture and smothers weeds. Harvest is effortless with no digging. This method is suggested as a way to thwart Colorado potato beetle.

Cons: Yield in the test plot was slightly less than in the hilled row. Field mice have been known to use the cover of straw to consume the crop.

Raised Bed

Loosen the soil in the bottom of a half-filled raised bed. Space seed potatoes about 12 inches apart in all directions and bury them 3 inches deep. As the potatoes grow, add more soil until the bed is filled. If possible, simplify harvest by removing the sides.

Pros: This method yielded the largest harvest in my trials, and the potatoes were uniformly large. Raised beds are a good choice where the garden soil is heavy and poorly drained.

Cons: The soil to fill the bed has to come from somewhere—and it takes a lot.

Grow Bag

Commercial growing bags are constructed of heavy, dense polypropylene. Put a few inches of a soil-compost mixture in the bottom of a bag, then plant 3 or 4 seed potato pieces and cover with 3 inches of soil. Continue adding soil as the plants grow until the bag is filled. To harvest, turn the bag on its side and dump out the contents.

Pros: Grow Bags can be placed on patios or driveways or used where garden soil is of inferior quality. The bags should last for several growing seasons. Their dark color captured solar heat to speed early growth. Harvest was simple, and the yield was impressive, considering the small space each bag occupies.

Cons: This is a pricy technique. The brand of bag I used costs $12.95.

Garbage Bag

Plant a large plastic garbage bag following the instruction for a Grow Bag, punching a few holes through the plastic for drainage. Roll the top edge of the bag to help it stay upright; otherwise the bag is prone to sag and spill soil. To harvest, rip the bag and dump out the contents.

Pros: Like the Grow Bags, a garbage bag can be employed where in-ground growing is not an option. Black bags capture solar heat to speed early growth.

Cons: Aesthetically, this is the least appealing choice. Yield was meager, perhaps because the thin plastic allowed the soil to heat up too much, limiting tuber formation.

Wood Box

Following instructions found online at Irish Eyes Garden Seeds Website, build a bottomless square box (I used lumber from discarded pallets). Plant the same as for a raised bed. The box is designed so additional slats can be screwed to the sides as the plants grow and soil is added. In theory, a bottom slat can be temporarily removed to facilitate the harvest of new potatoes. For the final harvest, tip the box and dump out its contents.

Pros: This is another raised strategy for growing potatoes where the garden soil is of poor quality. Yield was similar in quantity to that of a raised bed.

Cons: A lot of time and effort went into the construction of the box. I felt the results did not justify the effort.

Wire Cylinder

Using hardware cloth with ¼-inch mesh, fashion a cylinder about 18 inches in diameter and 24 inches tall. Put several inches of soil in the bottom, then plant 3 or 4 seed potatoes and cover them with 3 inches of soil. Continue to add soil as the potatoes grow. To harvest, lift the cylinder and pull the soil back to expose the tubers.

Pros: In a climate with incessant spring rains, the wire mesh would provide excellent drainage and prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged. This is another raised technique to consider where garden soil is poor.

Cons: I harvested a limited number of undersized tubers from the cylinders—a dismal showing, probably because the soil-compost mixture I used dried out so quickly that the plants lacked adequate moisture.

Seed Starting Chart

If you are like Tom and me, you can't wait to get your seeds into the ground.  Here is a great little chart from the Knowledge Weighs Nothing Website to let you know when to grab your trowel and start planting.

How to Build a Living Wall (Vertical Garden)

This great idea came from The Tumbleweed Traveller. I think we might try this, but in a smaller version.  This would make a GREAT edible privacy fence in a small yard!!! Diagrams and Building Instructions are included in this article.  Enjoy!

Liz, myself and the newly planted vertical garden.

A few years ago now, on a trip to Paris, quite by chance I came a cross a vertical garden or living wall created and installed by the French gardener and designer ‘Patrick Blanc‘. The plants are rooted into a thick hydroponics membrane through which a nutrient enriched solution trickles, pumped up from a reservoir at the base of the wall which keeps the plants fed and watered.

The vertical garden on the wall of the Musée des Arts Premiers Quai Branly in Paris.

I had often spoke with a friend of mine ‘Will Giles’ about how we could create a DIY version, looking at all the possible ways of supporting it, what to use as the membrane, how to hold it up, what to use as the reservoir and how to feed the plants among many other things. After a while we came up with a much simpler solution, as the best ideas always are. Do away with the expensive and intricate hydroponics and build a structure that is essentially a series of hammocks, a bit like a multi story window box. It may take a little bit of daily care to keep the plants watered and looking good but is much easier and cheaper to build.

It was while I was working at Urban Jungle hardy and exotic plants nursery that I had the opportunity to put the idea to the test. I had a rough idea of how the structure might work but no set figures to work from. I could see ‘Liz’ my boss and one of the owners of Urban Jungle looked a little apprehensive as I was attaching 12ft high pieces of timber to the edge of one of the pergolas in the middle of the nursery. Once the wall had taken shape and looked as if the monstrosity was going to work, apprehension quickly turned to plants. Once the wall was up and the pockets filled with compost we set about rounding up plants from the nursery and setting the out on the floor in front of the wall for planting, and then planted well into the night. The wall turned out to look not too bad and after a week or so, when the leaves had turned themselves up to the light, it looked pretty damn good. Many visitors to the nursery asked how it was built so here, at last, are the designs for the vertical garden. Sorry about the wait.

Planting the wall by headlight.

The wall is now coming up to its second season and has endured one of the coldest winters for years, where I’m shore the entire thing would have been frozen solid for several days if not weeks at a time. I’m no longer at Urban Jungle but have heard from Liz that some of the plants are now on the move and in a short time she will be able to see what had pulled through and what needs tweaking. Some plants were not hardy so there will inevitably be some gaps to plug. Liz is going to put up a post on Jungle Drums, the Urban Jungle blog,  in the coming weeks on the progress of the wall, what has worked, what hasn’t and the new plants that will fill the gaps. As soon as it’s up I’ll post a link.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN LIVING WALL OR VERTICAL GARDEN

1) CHOOSE A LOCATION- Once the wall is planted and watered it will be very heavy so a suitable structure is needed to support the wall. If the base of the wall is resting on the ground and this is not a solid surface, place slabs under each of the uprights to spread the weight and prevent it from sinking into the ground. If the wall is not resting on the ground make shore the brackets used to hold the living wall to the supporting structure are strong to take the weight of the wall when saturated. If the supporting is a house or shed wall the structure should be mounted away from the supporting wall to leave a cavity and avoid causing damp problems.

2) ORIENTATION- The place we chose for the wall at Urban Jungle by chance faces east. This in my opinion is the best direction for it to face as it gets direct light up until noon in the coolest half of the day. If the wall was south or west facing more particular attention would have to be paid to watering and plants would have to be selected to tolerate direct light. Regarding watering, it is important to be diligent as anyone who has let a hanging basket dry out knows it takes a while to re-wet, and you cant dunk the wall in a bucket. North facing walls would require less attention but the constant shade will limit the choice of plants.

3) CONSTRUCTION- The wall at Urban Jungle was 12ft high, 7ft wide and build against a large pergola for support. I used three uprights made from 12ft lengths of 2x4 tantalised timber. The two uprights on the edge of the wall were attached to the uprights of the pergola with brackets and the middle upright stabilised by a post in the ground and two cross members. Each of the uprights was rested on a paving slabs to help spread the weight. The horizontal spars that support the planting hammocks were made from tile baton. Each spar was screwed in place with a little wood glue for extra support. The spars were placed 10cm apart. This made the pockets closemouthed together so that when planted not too much gaps are left but there is enough room to squeeze the root balls in.

How to build the timber structure that supports the wall.

4) POCKETS- Because the wall had three uprights there had to be two series of pockets as they cant cross the uprights. The pockets were made from heavy duty landscape fabric which needs to be about two and a half times longer than the height of the wall and about 20cm wider than the width between the uprights. Start by folding about 10cm in each side so the fold is facing the front and attach to the back of the top spar with staples or by screwing a second spar over it. Push the fabric in between the top and second down spar so it forms a pocket about 15-20cm deep. Place a few staples in the second down spar so the fabric doesn’t slip. This will not need to be as secure as on the top spar as the weight of the compost will hold each pocket in place. Repeat the process down to the bottom of the wall and securely attach the end of the fabric to the bottom spar.

How to attach the landscape fabric to create the pockets.

5) FILLING- We decided not to add any ingredients to the compost like pumice or perlite to reduce the weight as we were happy that the structure would support the weight. We mixed plenty of slow release fertiliser granules into the mix as there will be a large amount of plants in a relatively small volume of compost. We also added a quantity of swell gel to aid water retention. Fill the wall from the bottom pocket up so that each filled pocket rests on the one previous. Fold up the excess landscape fabric that was folded in on either side to prevent the compost from spilling out the end of the pockets. Each pocket should only be filled three quarters as the root balls from the plants will take up a proportion of the space and the soil level in the pocket  must be just below the spar so water can soak in and not poor off the wall.

The newly planted wall before the leaves have turned up to the light.

6) PLANTING- We set the plants out on the floor in front of the wall to create a design before we started to plant. Spacing will depend on the plants you use and the size of the plant used. Start planting from the top down. If you plant from the bottom up the lower plants will be covered with compost. Lay a sheet down bellow the wall as a lot of compost will be spilt. Make shore the plants are well watered before planting as many of the root balls will have to be teased apart and squeezed into pockets. Despite our planning we changed the design considerably while planting as it looked so different when vertical. Liz more so than other gardeners is a very impatient gardener so we planted a little closer than was probably necessary and plugged the gaps with Tradescantia cuttings, Spider plants and Begonia sutherlandii. These quickly grew and filled the gaps. We debated weather to use only evergreens but decided this would be too limiting on the design possibilities and would make the wall predominantly green. The down side to using deciduous or herbaceous plants was that the wall will look a little sparse over winter. We put a few dwarf Daffodils in the wall to see how they would fair. These wouldn’t hide the landscape fabric, but would add a splash of colour before the new shoots emerge.

7) WATERING- The wall will have to be completely manually watered. Rain will have little if any benefit to the wall other than slowing the rate at which the wall dries out, plus the leaves will arrange themselves like roof tiles shedding all the rain water. We didn’t get around to installing a trickle irrigation system and hand water the wall daily, sometimes twice if it is really hot and or windy. From autumn to early spring watering will be much less but still important. To install a trickle system there would need to be one trickle pipe along each pocket with dripper every 30cm or so. The dripper pipe would need to be the sort that delivers a specific flow of water rather than a simple leaky pipe as the bottom of the wall would receive more water than the top. The watering regime would have to be little and often to prevent the nutrients from being leached from the compost.

8) FEEDING- The slow release fertiliser we put in the wall was more than enough to see the plants through the first season with no signs of stress. The second and subsequent years are where attention is needed. Each perennial plant should have a hanging basket pellet pushed into the compost near the root ball. Any annual or replanted patches should have the old compost removed and replaced with fresh compost and slow release fertiliser. The old compost will be matted with the roots of perennial plants which should be carefully cut without cutting the landscape fabric. If a trickle system is installed a liquid drip feeder could be attached or if hand watered use an occasional folia feed.

Growing Fruits & Veggies for Your Freezer

The avid vegetable growers on my gardening email list have noted that alas, despite trying to plan well, their freezers and pantries are almost bare despite the fact that there's still snow on the garden. We're fortunate to live in times with well-stocked grocery stores.

We're also lucky to live with reliable electricity. I know how to can and make preserves, but the freezer is still the easiest way I know how to easily capture garden produce at their peak. I keep a baking pan in my freezer and bring in surplus I've picked that I won't use today and after washing, spread the beans, peas, corn, cherries or strawberries on the baking pan for a kind of home flash freeze. Later when I have time, I bag up the frozen item to protect them from freezer burn. Easy and fresh. And despite what all the books tell us, we've had really good luck with freezing produce without blanching it first.

Suggestions on what items are good for freezing:

Tomatoes of course....Sauce or diced, roasted or stewed. We agree tomatoes are the most versatile item in your freezer.

Prepared meals:  ratatouilles, bean stews, chilis, lasagnas, stuffed peppers.  Who isn't delighted to find a home-grown, home-cooked meal in the freezer on a cold January evening ready to thaw and eat.

Individual vegetables, loose.  Here I take inspiration from the freezer section of the grocery and make small Ziploc bags of everything the grocery store freezer section supplies:  beans, corn, peas, okra, black-eyed peas, baby limas, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, red and yellow peppers. Basically anything that would make a quick side vegetable to balance out a meal or something to give a soup or stock some extra zip. One great suggestion I'll try this year is to freeze poblano peppers whole ready for stuffing.

Pre-cooked foods.

Here's where I've learned that pre-cooking some foods turns ordinary vegetables sublime.  Frozen cut spinach isn't too impressive, but frozen spinach previously braised in olive oil and garlic is sublime.  Likewise, braised mixed kale with a splash of tamari is welcome.  A great way to freeze these greens is  to lay them on freezer paper in a long thin log and wrap them up.  Cut off a section of what you need and return the log to the freezer.

Cooked and seasoned beans.  I love green beans fresh but there's something about them frozen plainly that is unimpressive.  But I like heartier beans like broad beans that have been cooked and seasoned. 

Potatoes. I'm still experimenting with potatoes, but I'm so crazy for mashed potatoes that frozen individual servings of mashed potatoes with a little gravy disappeared by December.  The texture wasn't as great as fresh...but they're still mashed potatoes!  Shredded potatoes for hash browns are pretty good too.

Roasted eggplant slices....ready to go for lasagna.

Baby beets, well-cooked and seasoned.

Stir-fry mixes of favorite vegetables pre-cooked to almost doneness.

Fruit.

You can't make enough of this. Keep trying, but whether dried or frozen, cherries, raspberries and peaches just disappear.  There's still applesauce and a few strawberries in my freezer and some dried cherries I didn't see.  Freeze more next year!

Now that my freezer is almost empty, I know how to plan for this year's garden.  Plant more of the foods that disappeared by December and fewer of the foods that are still frozen from year before last.

Article by Sandy Swegel

Photo Credits: http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/category/food-storage/
http://www2.fiskars.com/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Projects/Garden-to-Table/Canning-Freezing/Freeze-It-Quick-Tips-for-Freezing-Your-Garden-Produce#.UP1smyfAeSo

Top 10 Breakfast Cereals Most Likely to Contain Monsanto's GMO Corn

This article from NaturalNews.com is SCARY but IMPORTANT!! Can you imagine what these cereals are doing to our kids as they happily munch them in the morning? Please click the link and read this article.

The information in this article is also true for other GMO crops like soy and wheat.

Be informed ... Stay Healthy!!

How to Identify GMO Produce at Your Grocery Store

As a follow up to my article from yesterday (Why Should You Be Concerned About GMO Produced Crops ), I wanted to add a handy guide for identifying GMO, conventionally grown and organically grown fruits and vegetables.  

You have probably noticed the little sticker or stamp on the produce in the grocery store.  Those are called PLU codes (Price Look Up codes).  The codes are used for input into electronic cash registers to determine prices for bulk items, such as apples and cabbage. The codes identify exactly what the item is with its current pricing, while giving the consumer a handy tag for identifying GMO produce.

Each PLU code has five digits. If the first digit is a 9, the item is organic. If it is an 8, it is GMO! Conventionally grown produce has a 0 for the first digit, but usually the 0 is dropped. So most conventionally grown produce will actually have only 4 digits on the PLU tag if you don't see a 0 at the beginning. The 8 gives you the worst of two worlds, GMO and heavy chemical spraying!

I have also noticed that if the produce doesn’t have the sticker attached, the code can be found on the signage above the produce identifying the product and the price.

Obviously, buying organic from local farmers is ideal. Buy bulk and pass up packaged foods. If you buy locally, through a local health food store or at a farmers' market, you can determine by direct communication how the crops were raised.  In our town, Market of Choice actually identifies the local farm that grows the produce they are selling in their store.

I love to grow my own greens and tomatoes.  They are simple to grow both inside and out.  You can have a fresh, “clean” salad in minutes.  Plus, in my opinion, nothing tastes better than home grown food!!