Harvesting and Storing Onions

One of the easiest things to do is harvesting and storing onions. This past fall we planted 2 tubs of onions. (Please pay no mind to the weeds and baby Spanish Oaks mingled with the onions). Now that we’re into summer, it’s finally time to fully harvest them. We’ve been using them throughout the winter and spring as we need them, but I’m afraid if we leave them in the ground much longer then they’ll either turn to mush or re-sprout and we won’t get to use them.

So, today I started the harvest process. I pulled them out of the ground and am going to let them cure for a week or so right there on top of the soil.

I wasn’t sure what to do with the harvest once I got them inside (after they’ve cured), but I did find this unique way of keeping them fresh. We don’t have a cellar or basement, or other way to store them so I was worried that they would spoil before we could use them all.

This super simple technique utilizes a few brown paper lunch bags, a hole punch, and a marker for writing on the bag. That’s it.

Fold the bag in half lengthwise, punch holes in it up and down the length of the bag. Readjust the fold and punch more holes until the bag is covered with them. The holes allow the air to circulate around the onions and keeps them from molding.

Once the bags have holes in them, write “onion” on the side of the bag. Fill the bag with onions – only a single layer, though. Fold the tops and place them in a cooler part of the kitchen.

Open a bag when you’re ready to use the onions! It’s that easy. In addition, you can use this same method for garlic.

If you get to the point that it’s planting season again and you still have onions, re-plant those that have started to sprout and you’ll have a jump start on the next gardening season. As you can see, harvesting and storing onions is pretty simple and not very time-consuming at all.

NOTE: One other way to maintain a steady supply of onions is to dig down to the roots and cut the onion right above the roots. These onions will eventually grow back as long as you leave the roots in the soil.