"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Summertime


Early each summer, the onions are ready to harvest.  These early onions are the sweetest ones, you won't have to make sure everybody is eating them, you know, like garlic. 

 Allium cepa, or onions, have been traced back to 5000BC, the remnants found alongside dates and figs.  The Egyptians cultivated them 2000 years later and fed them, along with radishes, to the workers building the pyramids.  They have been an important food source and potent medicinal plant since then.  Quercertin, found in onions, is being touted today as an anti-inflammatory and cancer fighter.  Christopher Columbus brought them aboard the Hispanola to the New World, but found they were already being eaten in wild form by the Native Americans.

 They are easy to grow and when the tops dry, pluck them from the earth and let them cure for a couple of days.  Bunch and hang them in a shady spot.  It would be perfect to store them in a root cellar but mine hang  by old baskets in my garage.  They will still be edible by Thanksgiving if I have any left.

Most importantly, if you cry while slicing an onion, if your eyes nearly burn out of their sockets, hold them under running water or submerged in a basin of water while slicing.  Also, chill beforehand.

5 comments:

mermaid gallery said...

I have become addicted to carmelized onions....just fry in butter with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar....sooooo tasty!....i use onions in everything!!!...garlic too.....You have beautiful onions!!!!!

A Brit in Tennessee said...

They look wonderful !
I've been indulging in the sweet Vidalia variety these past few weeks, so delicious :)
It's a long wait until Thanksgiving, but oooh the rewards are worth it ...
~Jo

Jill of All Trades said...

Mine are still very green and standing. Wait a bit more.

It's Just Dottie said...

One of these days I am going to plant onions. I really am!!!
Smiles. Dottie

jerilanders said...

Your onions are real beauties! Mine were a complete failure last year. My mother always peeled her onions in a bowl of ice cubes and water, it works!
About my peacocks,they just posed in mirror image of their own free will, I had never seen them do it before. Oh, I do know about the screaming noises they make ALL throughout the day, I love it!