Onions in the compost pile

I'm fairly new to composting, so try not to laugh too much at me

I've been very slowly building my compost pile since last year. It's just now getting up to a decent size, and actually getting hot in the middle. Woo! But I found something kind of weird in my pile today while turning it.

A few weeks ago, I found some really rotten onions in my pantry that I guess I'd forgotten about. They were awful. Smelly, mushy, brown. So I thought, hey, cool, something to throw into my compost pile. I didn't even bother chopping them up or anything, because they were SO gross.

Well, today while turning the pile, I found some really beautiful looking onions! Big, firm, healthy, with some good looking roots. These have to be the onions I threw in there a while back. But I don't know what to do with them, lol. Should I plant them? They're softball sized. Should I eat them? I don't know how I feel about eating something that came straight out of my unfinished compost pile... Should I chop them up and put them back into the compost pile?

If they are that nice looking why not put them back into your pantry. I have a cantaloupe in mine that probably will make it to my dinner table. Thanks for your idea I may just grow onions in my compost pile next spring. Success shows up in the darndest places.

I'm a bit confused by your post. Do you think these came from the rotten smelly onions from a few weeks ago or from onions that you put in there before that?



Either way, I don't see any harm in eating them. Pretty cool that you got this nice surprise in your compost.

I honestly think the rotten smelly onions revived somehow, because I'm fairly sure those are the only onion type things I've thrown into the pile.

I'm still thinking about what to do with them. They're sitting out in my garage with the rest of my onion sets for the moment.