We have been so busy. Before that big rain came in last week we pulled those onions that we had laid over in the boxes. Before they could get wet. We want them to form a nice dry husk around that center onion.
Then the bent/crimped onions are draped over a wire in the top of the chicken house roof where the warmth of the tin roof and the openness of the wire coop walls allow the onions to stay dry with lots of air flow. Yet they remain high enough that the chickens can't get to them.
And don't forget the ones in the woodshed along side the hanging garlic.
Gradually these onion will be chopped and frozen for winter cooking or dehydrated again for winter cooking. Some go into the canning recipes over the next weeks such as pickled beets and freezer slaw. The remainder will be eaten in the summer meals.
There were 6 boxes of onions that were forked over after the onions were gone. Compost was added to them and all 6 were planted with our third planting of red beans. Red beans and rice is one of my favorite meals and takes me back to my Louisiana roots. We eat them regularly. Some I will dry and some will go into jars.
The first patch is blooming now and have small beans on them. The second patch is out by the blackberries and are about 3 inches tall. We just planted the third patch. One crop goes out and the next crop goes in. A constant rotation until frost.
We pick the crops that we eat most, that grow best in our soil and climate, and produce the most. Then we plant them in constant succession throughout the season. This gives us food freedom and cuts our dependency on outside food other than just by choice.
This vegetable list that is planted successively includes green beans, horticulture beans, squash, zucchini, red beans, butter beans, purple hulls, potatoes, beets, cabbage, mustard greens, lettuce, green onions, carrots and cucumbers.
Longer season vegetable crops that we grow but do not have time to plant successively and can only grow one crop a year include sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, and okra. That is in zone 6B/7A.
All of these crops require little support/staking except the runners. All of these crops we eat regularly and have many optional ways of cooking. And all of these crops either can, freeze or dehydrate well if not all three.
While we still have lots of work ahead of us it gives us a great sense of accomplishment to see these crops hanging in our sheds. Another job down and many more to go. Another blessing granted.
Hope this helps.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Thank you for sharing your crop rotation information. We are in our 70's and, although we garden each year, we have been trying to figure out a good crop rotation system with a growing season of 120 days. This year my husband made hoop frames for our raised beds, so we will be planting earlier and trying to extend our season a bit, next year.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a delight to see your beautiful pictures.
What kind of onions did you grow and when did you plant them? We're in northeast Georgia zone 8a. I'm trying to get an idea for planting in the fall. I haven't left a comment since you starting blogging again, but I'm glad you're back.
ReplyDeleteHi Lori and thank you for the tidings. I plant garlic in the fall around October 1. I start onions seeds in mid January. I plant them in the garden on St. Patrick's Day and pick mid to late june. I plant green onions or spring onions throughout the year. Variety hybrid candy (intermediate day) Super star (Intermediate day) 1015Y Texas supersweet (Short day) Yellow Granex (short day). In zone 8 you could plant your onions much earlier than I plant my 6B/7A garden. I would stick with a short day onion for your zone.
DeleteI love seeing your gardening posts! I pulled the garlic this week and it's drying on the porch. This was my first year growing garlic, so I'm quite excited about it! Just planted 3 new zucchini today to keep us in zucchini after the other 2 plants phase out.
ReplyDeletehave you tried soft neck garlic for fall eating and hard neck for winter spring eating? I know several of the Amish that do that around here 6 B zone
ReplyDeleteI have read about it but not tried it.
ReplyDeleteLoving this post! I just discovered this huge pile of clippings my husband has been adding to for years in our yard and every scoop has several earthworms in it. I'm very excited about that because my husband has always told me we shouldn't invest in raised beds because dirt would be so expensive. This year after discovering that healthy compost/dirt, I filled all of my containers with it and my vegetables are all growing fabulous, even in pots and grow bags (15 gal). This year, I planted for the first time in a few years- and focused on growing food we eat lots of rather than just something that is easy to grow. I have also added seeds and new plants at various stages of growth to open places. Here in Missouri, we are having a rainy and somewhat cool summer so hoping in mid July to see some actual food out there. The onions info here is super interesting. I've never known anyone to grow onions from seeds. They only use "onion sets" here in my area for planting onions. I had great success with seeds this year, even living in a tiny house, and so will add onions to my list for next winter. Seed starting in winter really helps the winter blues for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sharing your life with us here. I learn so much and am sharing with my own children this knowledge.
Gina when I first started my boxes I filled them by building a frame and then adding leaves, straw or anything I could get my hands on to compost. Every year I added more boxes. My new boxes basically became my compost bins. Cheap way to do it without purchasing dirt.
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