The Crafty Cultivator

Last year was kind of a write off garden wise. I mean, things grew, but I didn’t really intentionally grow anything because I knew that my focus was going to be taking care of my brand new baby. Then my dad died, so I also had all that to deal with, so it was nice to just have a bunch of perennials and nothing pressing. This year, I’ll have a 3 year old and a newly 1 year old, and no parents left to die on me, and can sink my hands back into the soil again. I need the garden therapy, so the motivation to grow things has struck again.

Let’s talk onions. Not my favorite vegetable in the slightest, but my husband likes them, and I enjoy growing them. I didn’t get any garlic in the ground in the fall either, so I have room for these. I have old onion seeds that I want to use up, but I will probably do them next year when I should have more garden space for them. This year, to help with being successful, I picked up new seed. I picked some Red Globe with my seed order I did with OSC (they have great pricing), and then I also grabbed some ‘Candy’ off the Mckenzie rack at the grocery store. I also have some Zebrune shallot seed from West Coast from a few years ago that I may start as well.

• ‘Red Globe’ Onion from OSC – ‘Allium cepa’.
  • “A round, red-skinned heritage variety with a fairly strong flavour. Flesh is white with a pink tinge. A good keeper.”
  • 100 days to harvest

• ‘Candy’ Onion from McKenzie seeds
  • “This popular onion produces large 8-10cm (3-4″) white bulbs. Mild, with a sweet flavor that is tasty raw or cooked. An outstanding versatile onion that is a reliable producer. One of the best storage onions making it an excellent choice for Canadian gardens.”
  • 85 days to harvest (after transplant)

I don’t have a ton of room to dedicate to keeping seedlings and plants going inside anymore. Its even harder now with all the little helping hands I’ve created. So I am trying to reign myself in on all the seeds I want to start.

On February 20th, I started these in some recycled clear plastic containers (from soup from Costco). Its not worth taking a picture of tiny black seeds on black seed starting mix, but I will update in the future when there is something green to show. I haven’t decided if I will start some ‘Zebrune’ Shallots yet, but I will also update in a future post if I decide to do so. I’m considering doing a monthly recap of things, in a journal type style.. no promises, but it would likely help me keep consistent with writing and updating here. Plus it is nice to look back on the things I’ve been doing.