tiller newbie notes

[TerryinMD]

Bird,

We put in about 10-12 fifty foot rows of onions and leeks. This year we'll probably have a fifty foot row of shallots. I didn't mention earlier that we have also grown garlic. Pretty darn easy but need a little more TLC to prevent the onion maggot. We keep our pesticides and herbicides to a minimum. Only what is ABSOLUTELY necessary and when we do, we prefer organic methods.

When you buy the young plants, the bundle is supposed to have a hundred plants. They typically have somewhere between 120 and 150 so we have tons of onions. We put in granex (Vidalia onions), white, red, and globe spanish. We typically plant the onions close and pull out "green" onions to get the proper spacing. This past summer we planted them about 8 inches apart and had a phenomenal havest. Most of the onions were somewhere between 3/4 to 1 1/2 pound each!! We had a few that were 2 1/2 pounds each!! Big mammas... We entered three different varieties in our country fair and took blue ribbons on each. All of the judges wanted to know what we did to get them so big. We told them what we did and the just shook their heads.

People come back year after year to our Market Garden stand to get onions and leeks. The just love them. So I guess we're doing something right.

Terry

 

[Bird]

That's quite a garden, Terry. And we plant the onions close together, too, (usually 10-11 bundles) and "thin" them later just as you do. There are a lot of good onions, but the best I've found have been the Vidalia, Walla Walla, and 1015Y, with the 1015Y being the only one of the three that you find around here. Some years, we've also set out some red (well, actually purple) onions. They did just fine, but don't keep as well as the others after harvest.

Patrick, that's some pretty pictures. I'll have to check on some of those recipes.

 

[TerryinMD]

Bird,

I can remember the varieties we use. My wife is the planner, purchaser, and purveyor. I just execute her desires (with suggestions, of course) /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

We get all of our plants from Piedmont (now plantfields <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.plantfields.com>Plantfields</A>. They have a very good selection and grow quality plants. I'll get the exact varieties and pass them along.

Terry

 

[ronjhall]

Bird
The subject of Leeks brings back some good memories. In the spring we would go up to Atlanta Michigan to friends of ours cabin. We would go out into the woods and pick Moral mushrooms. There was also a hillside that was covered with Leeks that had just popped up from the winter snow. Our friends would make a great meal of Moral and Beefsteak mushrooms, with some fresh caught Blue Gills fried in the Leeks. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif My wife and I sure miss the couple that provided this rare opportunity to enjoy some of natures naturally grown delicacies. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Terry, that may be a good place to get seeds and plants, but it's definitely not for me; onion sets available 4/2/02?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif The local places already have them and I'll set mine out early next month. And if the prices I saw on the onion sets are any indication, WOW! Folks around here gripe about the prices at half theirs./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Bird]

That really does sound good, Ron. I'm quite fond of mushrooms, but never picked my own; wouldn't know a good one from a poisonous one, and don't know whether any good ones even grow wild here. And of course, Blue Gill are great anytime./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[TerryinMD]

Bird,

I can understand what your saying about the cost. However, the quality of their product is high. My wife is very frugal and shops around for all of our garden supplies. We have gotten onion bundles locally and they were just horrible. We would generally lose more than half the crop with them. So there are trade-offs. Since you guys are in Texas, you may be closer to some good nurseries and get fresher products.

Regardless, I'll get the varieties and post them.

Terry

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>closer to some good nurseries</font color=blue>

That's probably the big reason. Even way out here in the country, I have a good sized hot house/nursery 3 miles from home, and then a couple of really big ones within 40-50 miles, as well as some smaller ones.

 

[ronjhall]

Bird
I don't know the difference either. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Our friends would take us to hunt for the Morals. It takes a sharp pair eyes /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif to spot them. They would find 5 to every one I found. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif One of my plans for retirement is to go up to that area again and search for Morals with someone who knows the difference. /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif

 

[TerryinMD]

Ron,

The best place to find morels is to look under dead elm trees. We have a few patches on our property and they are typically found under the dead elms. Why I don't really know! But that is the case in our area.

Terry