Onions, present and future?

How Many Alliums? What Type?

My long-term plans include elephant garlic, rocambole, ramps, walking and other perennial onions, when I can find and afford them.

I currently have in my garden:

• < 5 overwintered onions, unknown type, probably walking onions. (I bought some last year from ME Potato Lady).

• Garlic, planted in the fall

• Shallots, planted in 2 batches this spring.

• Chives, been here forever.

• 4 Scallions stuffed into a raised bed from large stumps (from the market)

• Yellow onion starts, planted this spring and divided.


I have yet to plant these from seed: garlic chives, short-season yellow onions, ramps.

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The ramps go on a hillside I’ve tried for years to get them to grow with no luck.

          I found some info at UNH which might help: extension.unh.edu/blog/2020/01/it-possible-grow-ramps-garden

I didn't think they'd flourish in New England, so hope!

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I’d really love to be able to make braids from home-grown alliums. Garlic, scallion, and onion, and have enough so that I don’t have to buy 25# to use during the winter. So, I went looking.

Here’s info about making an onion braid, it’s a different method than I’ve always used, but that’s okay!

     

Onions:

           

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Since I was already at UNH, I thought I’d go see what they had about overwintering onions. I found info about overwintering scallions, which seemed perfect!

          scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=extension
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Went looking for onion recipes for dinner, but nothing appealed, it's just TOO hot! But I found vanilla muffins with coffee cream I may make for breakfast!

www.azhealthzone.org/recipes/new-vanilla-muffins-with-coffee-whipped-cream-topping/

What is the hillside like? And are you trying to grow the ramps from seed? I know the seeds take a while to start, and they aren’t typically seen where conifers predominate. But in hardwood forests with decent soil, they tend to thrive. I even see them in successional habitats with poor-ish soil under ash trees.

It's a small hill, it had been home to 3 large pine trees. (They were removed/died/were ice storm damaged 3 yearas ago.)

There's a vernal pond with a huge oak next to it at the bottom of the hill. There's a gravel path way next to the house, and I've managed to get daffs and day lilies to grown on the hill. Keep trying to get ramps to start there, with no luck so far.

As I'm still trying to expand my perennial alliums, I went looking for perennial garlic. I found crow garlic, Allium vineale. The state I live in has it has an invasive, so I can't buy any seeds or plants. I might be able to find some plants in the nearby woods and grow it in pots? Or, if I can find some already wild, just use it from there. We have an old colonial wagon road nearby, with at least one stone foundation falling to bits. I will go look there to see if I can't find some crow garlic? I also have a neighbor who forages. She and another neighbor walk their dogs extensively up/down the wagon road, so if there's some wild garlic nearby, they may know.

There's also meadow garlic, but N New England where I am it's rare. Then I found info about Ransoms, Allium ursinum, but they grow in England...

Obviously, I need to keep looking!

I been trying elephant garlic. On a slight hill next to rhubarb. They are really happy I'm thankful. The stalks are huge. And all types of onions. I'll plant them next to blueberries and strawberries, potatoes, peppers, etc. they help with the bugs. I hear wild garlic is good if you get the scapes to grow. Cook em in some butter. Yum lol.

My favorite is probably garlic. I could eat garlic every day lol. I love garlic. Fried Garlic and taters. I hear roses love being next to garlic. Chives are another simple one.