N&C Midwest—January February 2021

I can't believe I'll already be starting onion seeds under lights in about a month. I usually start them early February, and transplant them into the beds in mid-March.

Scorpio Rising wrote:So do you start green onions, OG?  Like bunching?

Yes.  I start 150 to 200 seeds in a small flat, then I transplant them to the bed. I plant 16 per square, but I put 2 or 3 onion seedlings per hole then thin them as they grow. This gives me about 50 green onions per square foot.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Huge snow here....probably 6 inches now and still coming down.  Hard to think about Spring but it is time if you want to start seeds!  My first will be 

Green onions—what variety? 

SR, if you haven't ever grown the Nebuka Evergreen Bunching Onion, you should give it a try. They are absolutely delicious, both raw and cooked. I plant them 16 per square, with three onions plants bunched together in each hole - it takes 5 or 6 squares to hold all of the onion plants that grow from one package of seeds.  I start the seeds indoors the first week of February, and transplant them outdoors mid-March.

I also have some perennial bunching onions that I love because they are ready to start pulling before the new plants that I start from seed. They are Red Welsh Bunching Onions that I bought the original seeds from Baker Creek.  They are so neat because in early spring they form bunches of 6 to 8 onions. I pull out a bunch, pull one onion off the bunch and stick it back in the soil, and it is ready to form a new bunch. Each time we need fresh onions for dinner, I just pull a bunch, stick one back in the soil, and we eat the rest.

These are the seeds I get for the Nebuka Evergreen Bunching Onion, from Urban Farmer:
https://www.ufseeds.com/product/nebuka-evergreen-bunching-onion-seeds/

Not doing much with the raised beds today.....they are under about a foot of snow.

I had to cut the onion seedlings back to 3" today. It was either cut them back, or raise the lights again. I decided it was time to cut the onions, and put the cuttings in salads. Also picked some fresh Basil for this evening's spaghetti & meatballs.

I never put out tender plants such as peppers and tomatoes until after Mother's Day, so I don't start the seeds indoors until around the 3rd week of March. I like them to have 6 to 8 weeks of growth on them before they are transplanted. Bunching Onion seedlings, on the other hand, are already growing and will be transplanted in the beds around the 3rd week of march.