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Post by Dan on Feb 9, 2010 20:32:54 GMT -5
They looked like a good one to try to grow....i'm a sucker for a good onion, but have never really grown myself.
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Post by spacecase0 on Feb 9, 2010 21:04:38 GMT -5
I have grown onions a few times,
and they seemed to get temperature trauma and never got that big at all, but I guess that the seeds could have been mis labeled and were the green onion kind...
I am in california, so no seed company will ship me colored cotton seeds...
I have quite a few regular white cotton seeds if anyone needs them,
and I have some colored cotton that from a friend many years ago, but I have not tried it yet as the slugs seem to love small cotton plants and I can't bring myself to hurt the slugs.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 9, 2010 21:11:46 GMT -5
but have never really grown myself. Really? Never really grown yourself? hmmmm... ::giggles:: sorry, I couldn't resist... I'm with you on the onions. I've been working on figuring out the seed vs. sets issue for years now. HOPEfully, it's finally sunk into my itty bitty kitty brain and combined with ongoing soil enhancements, I might actually have a few onions growing this year. I did put out generic sets back in October and I am expecting to harvest them eventually. I intend to use the dead leaves method to determine harvest readiness. I have pulled a few for use as green onions. But, the bottom line will be "we shall see what we shall see". |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 9, 2010 21:28:26 GMT -5
I just received packets from Telsing and Johno.
Telsing has sent me:
Walking stick Kale
Something Leaf Broccoli (The first part of the name has rubbed off and I can't read it Telsing. Can you please clarify?)
Johno sent:
Gobo di Nizza Cardoon
Shanghi Pak Choy
Bluestar Kailan (Chinese Broccoli)
Wong Bok (Chinese Cabbage)
By the by, there are "crumbies" in these seed packets. What are they? I noticed that others have crumbs in their seeds as well and I just kinda chalked it up to breakfast. Can you elaborate?
The rest of you might want to know of something else I've just discovered as well. I adore Asian cuisine. GOOD Asian cuisine. It does not exist here, mainly due to a lack of decent ingredients and there is no demand for it either. I have connected with a new restaurant though and told them that I have certain ingredients and "would you cook them for me?" Surprisingly, the answer was an enthusiastic, "YES!" I'll still pay them, but I can't produce the BTUs needed for really good stir fry on my standard stove top and with my non stick cookware. Good Asian food depends a lot on "wok hey" or "kiss of the wok". That is the caramelized bits that are created when ingredients hit the intensely hot surface. Can't wait to show up with an armload of some of of these greens!!!! THANK YOU!
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Post by johno on Feb 9, 2010 22:21:06 GMT -5
I thought those seemed like ones you'd like. All I can think of about the crumblies is that it might be chaff that didn't get cleaned?
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 9, 2010 23:46:40 GMT -5
Oh yea Johno, I'm gonna enjoy these for certain! I was going to tease about the "WONG" bok...  but I thought better of it cause I have a hunch it'll be just RIGHT! HA! ;D As for the crumbies... now I AM puzzled cause the same substance is in the seed from 3 different people. I thought it might be some sort of something that would ward off bugs or mildew or something. It actually looks like cold milled flax seed. Interesting. Anyway, I'm sure it won't make a bit of difference to the seed. These will probably get put out sooner rather than later in any case. I'm going to have to make some pot stickers with the wong bok... maybe some chicken salad as well... pot stickers first... where's my shrimp... |
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Post by darwinslair on Feb 13, 2010 7:07:22 GMT -5
My dad grows the biggest sweetest onions of anyone I know. His secret is that every week he waters them with a diluted mixture of fish emulsion.
I watered mine twice this last year with a fish emulsion mixture and mine got to baseball size. Guess I will try watering them a few more times this year. His get in excess of 6" across.
Look a lot like the ones littleminnie is holding in her avatar, maybe bigger.
Myabe ask littleminnie what she does.
Tom
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Post by Dan on Feb 13, 2010 7:57:15 GMT -5
but have never really grown myself. Really? Never really grown yourself? hmmmm... ::giggles:: sorry, I couldn't resist... I'm with you on the onions. I've been working on figuring out the seed vs. sets issue for years now. HOPEfully, it's finally sunk into my itty bitty kitty brain and combined with ongoing soil enhancements, I might actually have a few onions growing this year. I did put out generic sets back in October and I am expecting to harvest them eventually. I intend to use the dead leaves method to determine harvest readiness. I have pulled a few for use as green onions. But, the bottom line will be "we shall see what we shall see". Got my seeds from Jim yesterday. Going to build a container to get them started indoors today. I'll post pictures of my other onion adventures so far. I have 2 containers which have quite a few different varieties growing already, so I am going for some results this year. We'll see. |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 13, 2010 10:03:25 GMT -5
Excellent! I'm looking forward to hearing about allium progress in particular. I have 3 flats outside now. A 32 with flowers and the others are ..umm.. 72? and they have greens and alliums. I put them in front of the flat with all of Val's cherries (not all really, but a lot!). I covered them with some pine straw and then sort of "caged" them with the waste from my "mystery" bean of last year. The vines dried out to pretty sturdy stuff and I just ripped wads from the fencing and laid them over the flats. They are covered with snow at the moment. I'm interested to see how this works for them.
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Post by bunkie on Feb 14, 2010 16:55:54 GMT -5
hey jo, i'm experimenting with a couple of rows of onions here. i planted them the year before last. left them in the ground, and last year they produced seed. i collected just about all the seed from the dried plants, and the plants started regrowing green again! i left them in the ground to see if they produce again this year, a third year in a row! i'm using the seeds for sprouts and seed this year...which reminds me i haven't started them yet. they were Southport and Yellow of Parma...i think... ..... I wonder how cotton will do in your neck of the woods. Do you know anyone else who has? i'm sure it'll do fine cause i'm going to start them early inside. no, i haven't picked the seed out yet...why? ;D |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 14, 2010 17:28:06 GMT -5
ONIONS SPROUTS! Oh now THAT sounds really delicious! I adore alfalfa sprouts on a roast beef and jack sandwich on homemade sourdough bread with horsemayo. What are the onion sprouts like compared to alfalfa sprouts flavor and texture wise? ::laughing:: you gotta pick out the cotton seeds to plant them silly!  Seriously though, I don't think you need to do it within a particular time frame. But now I'm wondering if it's better to store them with or without fiber. Anyone know the answer? |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 14, 2010 17:40:27 GMT -5
OH! I forgot to mention... I went out to the allium patch the day before the snow. It seems to be doing beautifully. The necks of the onions are suddenly much thicker. Many, about 2 out of 3, of the red onions have 2 sets of greens rather than 1. What does that mean? The shallots (I call them shallots with some reservation at this point) are very interesting. Onions and garlics all pop out of the ground at about the same time. The shallots, however; come out... I dunno, when they feel like it I suppose. One here, another a couple weeks later, more a couple months later... We put out about 2 dozen. Within a month there were only about 4 coming up. I thought the others were lost. Then, around Thanksgiving there were 6 or 7. A couple more in December and now I think all bout 3 or 4 are up. VERY odd to me. Another thing, When I planted Pugs garlic, I held back the smallest cloves to plant for "fresh" garlic and put them all in a separate area. All the garlic got a nice thick layer of oak leaf mulch. The "big" garlic all sprouted and grew within a couple of weeks. Even Pugs Garlic which wasn't planted until around December? However, NOW, the little guys are starting to push through the mulch blanket. VERY exciting! Growing onions will be a tremendous gardening coup for me. I hope I don't get to big for my britches! ;o)
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Post by bunkie on Feb 18, 2010 12:04:48 GMT -5
YAY...LET THE 2010 GARDENING BEGIN... speaking of onions... ;D..... goats walking up to the barn...can you belive it's February and no snow on the ground???!...  this was last year...  greenhouse all fixed and ready to go....had collapsed year before last due to heaavy snow...  onion flats headed for the greenhouse...  pete protecting the onions  |
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Feb 18, 2010 12:28:54 GMT -5
Good Boy, Pete!!! Give that cat some catnip! Great to see that you've got the Greenhouse repaired and ready to go. Much better than last year at this time. Perhaps it's a Good Omen, Bunkeh? 2010 Will be a Good Gardening Year.  |
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Post by Penny on Feb 18, 2010 13:55:16 GMT -5
Thats some greenhouse Bunkie.......awww Pete's cute.
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but I thought better of it cause I have a hunch it'll be just RIGHT! HA! ;D
Seriously though, I don't think you need to do it within a particular time frame. But now I'm wondering if it's better to store them with or without fiber. Anyone know the answer?
