Often, I don't think things through well enough, such as, "What will be the effect of adding 10 trailer loads of horse manure to my garden?"
Answer: rapid out of control growth.
Result: I have bitten off more than I can chew.
The onions all matured this month. It didn't matter if they were planted last fall, early or late spring, when the sweltering heat arrived, the bulbs rapidly swelled and were finished.
Many began to split from too much manure.
Moisture is lodged between the sections causing them to rot so they won't store long term.
They have been separated and spread out to dry on the front porch.
The abundance has overwhelmed me.
The dehydrator runs on the porch all day long - it smells too strong for the house. I am also caramelizing and canning as many as possible plus I want to learn how to pickle the red variety. Some will be frozen and only the perfect will be stored for wintertime. This is a bumper crop and it won't be wasted.
As soon as the onions were harvested, it was time to dig the potatoes. As luck would have it, my sons happened to be home on vacation. (Luck really had nothing to do with it. The potatoes could have grown a little longer but my guys were here so I took advantage of them.)
It is hard to say "no" to Mom when she crawls in first.
I promised them they could have all the potatoes and onions they wanted (with unlimited grilled chicken, hamburgers and pork chops. They half emptied my deep freezer).
They work for food but their wages are pricey.
The second experimental row of yellow, zucchini and spaghetti squash bloomed so their cover was removed this week. The netting was moved to a third row and more squash were planted.
Everything ripe in the garden was sent back with my guys at the end of their vacations. Since the two hoop houses that held the last of the winter greens are almost empty, more zucchini and yellow squash have been planted beneath them. I am determined to have some squash this season.
As of right now, every inch of the garden has either something growing or seeds planted. The porch is piled high with onions and the kitchen floor is covered in cucumbers, beets, potatoes and green beans. The first two tomatoes have almost turned red enough to pick, the okra is blooming, the peppers are waiting to be harvested and the purple hull peas are just beginning to turn colors. The garden is coming in!
Oh my goodness--those onions!!! I am impressed. Grasshoppers ate 2 out of my 5 squash plants but I'll replant tomorrow. At least it wasn't squash bugs this time. This is my 2nd year planting dill around the zucchini and it seems to be working. Now I just need to find something to deter the grasshoppers. Congrats on a successful harvest!
ReplyDeleteGrasshoppers on squash! Well, that makes sense. When I removed the covers to keep the squash vine borers from the squash plant, grasshoppers were underneath. I wondered how they found a way under the netting. They have never bothered my squash but have always gone for my green beans. Now I am wondering if the borers found the hole in the netting also.
DeleteJune bugs have hatched out by the hundreds and are swarming my garden. They are fighting to get the one collard plant that has leaves pushing up against the netting. They have eaten through the nylon/polyester netting to get to the leaf. Now there are holes in that spot. They ate the netting!!!
What bountiful harvests! That's a serious amount of onions! I can see becoming overwhelmed, especially if they wouldn't keep. But it sounds like you rose to the task marvelously. We're dealing with the dang borers too. I saw a tip on That 1870's Homestead I want to try. You wrap the stem from the roots to up above the ground a bit with athletic tape. I'm thinking it's worth a shot.
ReplyDeleteI am moving through the mountain of onions on my porch. It is slow going because they burn my eyes since they are so fresh. There hasn't been much loss so far because I am using the soft ones first. They are deteriorating rapidly and won't last long. I have maybe two weeks to get them all processed. Lesson learned: don't grow onions in a ton of horse manure but, I think it was worth it for the huge volume.
DeleteI tried masking tape on my squash stems but it came off when it rained. Then I tried duct tape which was difficult to swirl around and get it applied. The stem would grow a few inches during the night and the borers would find it before I could wrap it. 1870's Homestead is up north and she only has one hatching. You and I have two every season.
Last year I tried a shot needle with BT inside and it would work but you had to do it weekly between every leaf stem and the holes didn't close back up. The stems became like sieves and rotted.
There is a solution. We just haven't found it yet.
Well, shucks. Years ago, we tried the BT shots too. Today it looks like all but one of our squash are on the way out. I've only gotten one yellow, and one zucchini, unless you count a small misshapen one. Guess we better plant more seeds.
DeleteThe remaining spaghetti squash with the two large fruit are barely hanging on. There are two small green leaves but the rest looks dead - at least they are turning yellow so I am still hoping they will be edible. I planted more squash seeds this morning in the spot were I pulled up the bitter lettuce. Sigh.
DeleteI had a thought. I wonder if I smeared Vaseline or some other grease on the stems if that would protect it or if it would wash off. Have tried that?
Wow--everything about this post is incredible! I can't believe all those onions! I don't think I've ever seen one private garden with that many onions! Yum. Good for you! Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteHorse manure. Horse manure. Horse manure. I can't take credit for the success. It is all due to my neighbor's horses (and my husband who did all the shoveling). Funny thing though, people are always thrilled to receive a gift of tomatoes from the garden but giving away onions doesn't seem to excite anybody.
DeleteMy goodness! All those onions! Here we always plant bulbs, which are available at very reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteThis spring I saved some of my bulbs and put them in the refrigerator. I'm hoping they will sprout. I really wish someone had them for sale at a reasonable price. I suppose no one is buying them for fall planting. It seems I am always doing what nobody else is.
DeleteJeannie, why not braid those onions -- and sell them that way? They'd look lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of braiding them but because of the loads of manure I put in the garden, almost all of the onions have split inside. They are rotting so I have been preserving them as fast as I can. Today I pickled the last of the red ones after I tasted them and I discovered I like them prepared that way. There is only about ten pounds left on the porch.
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