Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within root crops Search permies
Advanced search Google search
Register / Login
online permaculture design course Eco-friendly wood stoves Master Gardener Program permaculture bootcamp design with leaf Green Living Book
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
Permaculture design course and appropriate technology course video Free heat movie IC.org comm directory Oehler complete underground house and green house set Green Living Book
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • r ransom
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Devaka Cooray
  • Leigh Tate
  • paul wheaton
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • M Ljin
  • thomas rubino
  • Megan Palmer

Urgent: Walking onions and freezing

 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15886
Location: SW Missouri
11985
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I want to gather a bunch of the walking onion greens and dehydrate them, but I have too much on my plate till next week. With one night dropping probably to 20F in this microclimate, two two more nights to probably 27. It will warm up during the day to 40s and 50s before nights warm back up to 40s.
What are the odds I'll be able to pick good greens after that? Do I need to put it on my list NOW, or can they hold that long/ I know by full winter they'll die back, but I don't recall when it starts.

Please advise :D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Judith Browning
Posts: 10048
Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe
3224
4
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I never remember to take a last cutting before freezing damages them...thanks for the reminder!
I really don't know what temp finally does them in though?
We're expecting a couple nights in the mid twenties this weekend.


"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

 
Jay Angler
master steward
Posts: 14772
Location: Pacific Wet Coast
9097
I like...
duck books chicken cooking food preservation ungarbage
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If you want to hold them, I'd really try to cover them. Maybe stick a couple of hot water bottles under the cover to be extra safe.

Visit Redhawk's soil series: https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil
How permies.com works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads

 
Mike Barkley
gardener & hugelmaster
Posts: 3860
Location: Texas
2161
I like...
cattle hugelkultur cat dog trees hunting chicken bee woodworking homestead ungarbage
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The greens will suffer bad in 20 degree temps. They might still be edible in a soup or something but they will lose their texture & most of their color. If you really want them get them before the freeze.

Argue for your limitations and they are yours forever.

 
Larisa Walk
pollinator
Posts: 393
Location: South of Winona, Minnesota
99
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 10
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've never harvested the greens in the fall although we've grown them for over 40 years in Wisconsin/Minnesota. We use them for early spring onions and also dehydrate them then when we lift the clumps to divide and refresh the bed. But to illustrate how tough they are we used to harvest the topsests to feed to our sheep each year to keep them from "walking" all over the garden. One year I forgot about a bucket of the topsets and left them sitting in an open-sided shed without cover. In the spring they were greening up and ready to grow.
 
Pearl Sutton
steward & bricolagier
Posts: 15886
Location: SW Missouri
11985
2
I like...
goat cat fungi books chicken earthworks food preservation cooking building homestead ungarbage
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 12
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I made time to get out and cut a bunch. If the plants are still good after this cold snap, maybe I'll do another batch.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
steve bossie
Posts: 679
Location: Northern Maine, USA (zone 3b-4a)
86
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
mine have gone though  a doz 25 f frosts and i just harvested some greens off them for a stew tonight. had to swipe away the 2in. of snow that fell on them last night. still bright green. they have survived -40 winters no problem. potato onions are equally hardy coming from eastern europe and russia where they still grow them regularly.. i also grow bunching onions and they too are very hardy. once established you never need to grow regular onions again.
 
Ebo David
Posts: 220
Location: Washington DC area (zone 7a)
30
I like...
forest garden trees medical herbs building seed greening the desert
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We have had very good luck using caterpillar-/low- tunnels, and a suitable heater <https://www.amazon.com/BioGreen-Palma-Grow-Greenhouse-Heater-Digital-Thermostat/dp/B06XCJGNJK>.  We were able to keep 90% of our Louisiana garden living through the Feb. 2023 Texas ice storm.

Just another potential solution.

EBo --
Master Gardener (Prince George's County, MD, USA)

 
Anna Fox
Posts: 11
posted 3 months ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
It sounds like you made the right call, Pearl! Walking onions are surprisingly hardy, but those temps around 20°F can definitely damage the greens' texture. You'll probably still see some green regrowth after things warm up, though. I've found they bounce back fast once daylight increases. Dehydrating what you already gathered was a smart move, even if the tops get frostbitten, the bulbs and sets underneath will stay fine for spring growth.
 
If you are going to the sun, make sure to go at night. Use this tiny ad's space ship:
Large Lot for Sale Inside an Established Permaculture Community — Bejuco, Costa Rica
https://permies.com/t/366607/Large-Lot-Sale-Established-Permaculture
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...