Saturday, August 25, 2012

Onions...or...boo-hoo!

This is a whining post. I've been happy to chronicle my gardening triumphs (I heard a show on NPR recently that asked whether the new social media is turning us into a nation of braggarts...hmmmm), and today I am planning to whine. About my onions.
Oh yeah, I got onions. I knew I would, but I also knew they would be a lot less than last year's great harvest. I just didn't know how MUCH less. Last year I harvested over 40 pounds of onions and I actually still have two left. They're a little shrivelly but still have usable bits. And I got over 40 pounds even thought the voles last year were having a field day eating them and by my estimation they got at least 50 of them and some of the reason I got so much poundage is because I had lots of fairly large onions in the mix.
This year, I don't know. I must have planted fewer. I also think I started the seedlings too early and the seedlings were never that robust. The onions in general have been much smaller so that would certainly affect the weight. But still...I only got 13 pounds. Wow, that's a substantial difference. Guess it'll be back to buying onions again this year. Sigh. OK, that's it for the whining. Next year will be different, right?

8 comments:

  1. Hah! One year I got 86 pounds of sweet peppers. This year, so far, 8 pounds. Last year I harvested 59 pounds of lettuce, this year 14 pounds. It was 32 pounds of carrots vs this year's 12 pounds. Yet my harvest total, over all, is the heaviest ever this year. I guess that means when one crop is crappy, another takes over and gives generously.

    Have a happy 2013 onion growing year!

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    1. Granny, you are so right! My overall total pounds of vegetables is way above last year's so far even with the lousy onion production and those tomatoes. So I guess I need to stop the whining and cheer. And I will be looking forward to see what the onions do in 2013! And trying to learn your secrets about getting good carrots!

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  2. I think most people had the same issue with onions this year - they are much smaller than last year. let's hope next year is better.

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    1. True, Jenny. I recall reading that others have had smaller onions, so maybe it is a general problem this year. My shallots on the other hand did way better than last years which helps a little with the onion disappointment.

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  3. It is okay to whine as we all feel like it at times! I grew onions for the first time this year from a bag of bulbs and they turned out quite well but some of my other things were failures! We win few and lose a few with gardening but we keep trying! Nancy

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    1. I think gardeners are eternally optimistic! And thanks for being a good sport about my whining!

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  4. Seems like my garden mantra tends to be "there is always next year"!

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