Harvesting Onions
Beginner’s Guide To Harvesting Onions
Harvesting onions is easy. In fact, you can do it pretty much anytime you want. Yes, you read that right. Harvesting onions can be done pretty much whenever you want. The big difference will be in the size and taste of onions that have been harvested early. Onions that have been picked and eaten early in the growing season will be smaller and have a much milder flavor. If you wait longer before harvesting onions, you will come up with some nice, fat onions with a delicious spicy taste.
Since onions grow under the ground, you may think it would be difficult to tell when they are ready to be picked. But even a beginner can tell when an onion is getting ripe. Onion plants are reading for picking when the leaves begin to die. At this point, they will literally start to flop over signaling that the delicious fruit ripening under the surface is about ready to be eaten.
Once the onion leaves are drooping and their color has faded, most growers recommend leaving the onions in the ground for another couple of weeks. This promotes full growth and allows the onion to mature completely.
The best time to actually pick the onions is on a dry and sunny day. Try not to harvest onions just after a rain to reduce the amount of moisture they will hold on to.
Once the onions have been picked, lay them out in the sun to dry for a few days. This will reduce the wetness of your onion and prepare them for long term storage. If you live in a hotter climate, the onions will probably dry in several hours under a hot sun.
If you are growing and harvesting onions for winter storage, the next step is the most important for long-lasting onions. After the onions have dried in the sun, you have to cure them for a time. This is still done outside, but the onions cannot be in direct sun. If you have a good shady spot – like on a porch – you can just set the onions out and let the air circulate and dry them out good. If you lack a shady space to cure your onion, lay them out and cover them with a thin cotton sheet. Don’t cover them with anything to heavy as that will actually retain moisture.
Onions should general take a week or two to cure completely. You will know that the process is finished when the onions have no wet spots and the skin appear dry and brittle. Once they are totally dried out, you can store them in a cool, dry and dark place for a few months at a time.