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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 14, 2021 10:13:26 GMT -5
ponyexpress, you're right that most short-day onions are not good for storage. However, there's a variety called Red Creole (a red, pungent onion) that is supposed to store well.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2021 19:51:20 GMT -5
I may have to try that one, Laura, after I get resettled. I like those old mean type onions.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 14, 2021 21:40:36 GMT -5
The keeper onions for the South were potato onions. They are really shallots but will store for a year. There were yellow and white types. The white variety is probably extinct.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 20, 2021 15:03:34 GMT -5
Growth completion was way early this year. They missed a lot of rain in April and May during early growth. Now have been pulled and trimmed and ready or storage. The biggest would have been average last year. No sets for this year so it will be awhile before the next harvest
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
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Post by ponyexpress on Jul 23, 2021 11:53:28 GMT -5
Growth completion was way early this year. They missed a lot of rain in April and May during early growth. Now have been pulled and trimmed and ready or storage. The biggest would have been average last year. No sets for this year so it will be awhile before the next harvest Bummer about that you didn't get the size you wanted. I harvested a few of mine since they were brown and most of them are small, golf ball sized. I do have 2-3 that the size that you would expect. Looking forward to trying them out. In my case, I think the issue is that I didn't plant the majority early enough. I did have 8-9 going early but next time, I will use my rootrainers and start them even earlier. I'm ready to put a bunch of them to seed production. That'll be fun to do.
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ponyexpress
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 16, 2021 7:22:20 GMT -5
Can the growers ( ladymarmalade, spike, september) report how they did with sets and seeds this year? paquebot gave me a bunch of sets and I have some that I grew from seeds last year. Here is the result from my garden this year. A couple on the right are true bottle onions where they lack the bulge in the middle. I think I made the mistake of not planting them early enough. I plan to put a bunch of these in the ground in the fall and cover with leaves to produce seeds next year. Here’s a picture of them with a pen, penny, and a note pad for scale.
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Post by spike on Aug 16, 2021 8:11:42 GMT -5
I started out with seeds last year and used the sets this year and my %#$@* cousin came, pulled them all and took every last one so I have no idea I know it was him cause he left the gate open.
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ponyexpress
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 16, 2021 9:37:11 GMT -5
I started out with seeds last year and used the sets this year and my %#$@* cousin came, pulled them all and took every last one so I have no idea I know it was him cause he left the gate open. That stinks. Are you going to ask him about this? My plan is to plant most of my onions for seed production. I plan to tag a couple of the bulbs as those of particular interest due to their shape. Will do this at my house since I won't have any other onions nearby in bloom. At the community garden, I will likely have cross pollination from other gardens.
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Post by september on Aug 16, 2021 9:48:48 GMT -5
My bottle onions had a bad year, and I don't know how many will be salvageable for next season. First off, they kept their green tops long after pulling last fall, eventually I forgot to keep checking on them, so they didn't get moved into the colder furnace room after they eventually dried up. So this spring when I looked at them, they had lost too much moisture and some were too shriveled to grow. I planted almost all of them anyway, and about 2/3 did survive. But it took them a long time to rehydrate and they did not put on much growth before the summer heat made it very hard to keep their sandy bed damp enough for good growing, even though I watered almost every day. So what I have are a bunch of very small, dry bulbs. And one onion that put out a flower head. I keep watering it's spot in the garden, but the water quickly leaches away to the dryer areas. I probably should carefully dig it out and put it in a pot where it can have better conditions. I wonder if the seed will be any good from one lone blossom, no other onions flowering anywhere.
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Post by spike on Aug 16, 2021 11:44:23 GMT -5
That stinks. Are you going to ask him about this? He does this crap to me all the time. One year he picked all my corn cause he was having a cookout (We were not invited) and his friends never had fresh picked corn >,< Last year he decided I was done with my peppers and tomatoes and took them also. I need a high voltage fence cause when you confront him he just laughs and laughs.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2021 12:10:54 GMT -5
That stinks. Are you going to ask him about this? He does this crap to me all the time. One year he picked all my corn cause he was having a cookout (We were not invited) and his friends never had fresh picked corn >,< Last year he decided I was done with my peppers and tomatoes and took them also. I need a high voltage fence cause when you confront him he just laughs and laughs. Put on a lock and also hot wire it as well.
Depending on how much you do not like him, which in my case would be not at all, record on your phone him admitting he took from your garden w/o permission, then put up a "No Trespass" sign or signs and when he goes on anyways, charge him with the local cops for theft.
If he had laughed at me over that, he might have needed some dental work.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2021 16:11:03 GMT -5
I forgot I have a T shirt to wear around people like that, it says "Piss me off and I will slap you so hard, Google won't be able to find you."
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Post by paquebot on Aug 17, 2021 19:34:49 GMT -5
The umbels and seed pods were quickly drying. Cut the 32 umbels off and hey will finish drying in a paper bag. Should be able o break up the pods in a week or so and winnow out the chaff. Will have plenty of seeds for a lot of gardeners to play with.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
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Zone:: 6b
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 20, 2021 9:00:09 GMT -5
The umbels and seed pods were quickly drying. Cut the 32 umbels off and hey will finish drying in a paper bag. Should be able o break up the pods in a week or so and winnow out the chaff. Will have plenty of seeds for a lot of gardeners to play with. Very exciting. Looking forward to doing the same next year. Were these from 8 bulbs you planted? So each bulb divided and sent up four stalks? I harvested some umbrels from my perennial onions. They look like this. I wonder if I should have picked them earlier?
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Post by paquebot on Aug 20, 2021 12:12:31 GMT -5
With old plants still standing, went out to check the old plants. Six were 4s, one was 3, and one was 5. Thus the normal division is 4 from the size of bulb planted.
Yesterday, stripped the pods off the umbels as they are drying quickly. They are close to being able to be husked with no damage.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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elkhound
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Post by elkhound on Aug 31, 2021 16:37:03 GMT -5
the bottle onions just dont seem to like my area? i have some about like ponyexpress has but there was some very large ones but they were rotten inside for some reason. i do have seed as pods are drying and its time to shake them and see exactly what i have amount wise. now the golden shallots are another story. planted 17 and i have pulled almost half bushel basket of them.they seem to like it here and i bet they do even better next year as i am not going to grow them under the weed fabric.they need way more room to grow outward. these are the dutch red shallots and the basket has the golden shallots.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 31, 2021 17:53:10 GMT -5
Not surprised about the golden shallots. They have never failed for me. They are closely related too potato onions which were long the only keeper in the South.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: alliums
Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Nov 10, 2021 9:50:11 GMT -5
Sad news. I just saw on Facebook that paquebot passed away overnight. His son said that Martin wrote an obituary and will post it once he figures out how to access it. I will do my part to keep his legacy going with Amish Bottle Onions. Will miss his advice in these forums.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Nov 10, 2021 9:52:42 GMT -5
That is very sad news. Thank you for letting us know.
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Post by spike on Nov 10, 2021 12:25:07 GMT -5
He just sent me more of the Amish Bottle onion seeds! Now I really have to keep them going.
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elkhound
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Post by elkhound on Nov 12, 2021 5:55:39 GMT -5
I had just talked with him a few weeks ago and yesterday i spent afternoon in garden and had just sat down to send him a email telling him of the garlic and various onions i had planted out when i seen bad news of his passing. i put out a dozen amish yellow bottle onions so hopefully they will bloom next year and get more seed .
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Post by september on Nov 12, 2021 10:21:41 GMT -5
I was surprised at how many of the little dried down bottle onions that I thought had perished in the drought were sending up green stalks when the fall rains started to hit. I left them all in the ground over the winter, so hoping that most will go to seed next summer. I have not yet had any big enough to taste test. How lucky for us all that Martin sent out seeds to share last year.
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ponyexpress
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Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Jan 24, 2022 8:42:56 GMT -5
Hi folks, what's going in your world with the bottle onions? Feel free to chime in with your plans. I started some seeds yesterday along with 4 other onions and 1 shallot in my quest to grow plants equal to Dixondale Farms. I was successful last year using the root trainers. Had wanted to start these on New Year but was lazy and kept putting it off. I would like to see if I can grow the bottle onion like a traditional onion to make the process a bit easier. I will plant some seeds in early June to grow as sets as paquebot recommended. The rest of the seeds I will reserve for next year in the event of a crop failure. This past fall, I planted some mature onions in my house garden under a good layer of mulch. Will plant more onions this spring. These will be used for seed production. Since this will be at my house without any nearby onion plants, I hope to keep the seeds very pure. Unfortunately, I don't have any sets to plant for onions this year.
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Post by mchsheritagegarden on Feb 1, 2022 14:39:32 GMT -5
Hello,
My name in John and I am a history teacher at a small high school in the Midwest. My personal interest is in growing old heirloom varieties of vegetables that date to the Civil War Era or earlier. A couple of years ago I started an heirloom, heritage garden where I work at my high school. Many of my students learn about the history of the heritage varieties that we grow outside in the garden and the role these foodstuff's played in sustaining generations of Americans. The majority of our gardening techniques and methods we implement in the garden are learned from 1800 gardening manuals and books. We try to grow it the way that they did. The students learn the history while also learning about food and how to supplement/support themselves with fresh, sustainable vegetables.
Some of my students help out in the garden and learn basic gardening techniques and tips that they can use at home and, hopefully, in their future gardens. I even have a few students who have helped with drying and saving seeds for future plantings. The majority of what we grow is given away to staff, students, and their families. We have had some success growing beans, tomatoes, radish, cucumbers, lettuce, field peas, turnips, beets, etc. This last year we had a great crop of potato onions.
I am posting on this forum because I have followed some of the individual's here's experiences with growing these Amish bottle onions. I have been looking for this variety for our garden for a few years. I would like to ask if any of you who received seeds/sets from paquebot (rest in peace) and have been growing them would be willing to support our heritage garden program here at the high school and share some seeds/sets with us along with paquebot's instructions for growing them. If shared, we will commit our time and resources for the next few years to growing this variety to eventually produce seeds to be shared in our community and to do a small part to help save this variety while teaching young people more about the past and food while we do it.
If you are willing to help, please let me know!
Regards,
MCHSHeritageGarden
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 1, 2022 15:53:48 GMT -5
I forgot I have a T shirt to wear around people like that, it says "Piss me off and I will slap you so hard, Google won't be able to find you." @imp I just saw this! I’m glad I wasn’t drinking a soda pop cause it would have choked me to death. That is funny!
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Post by spike on Feb 7, 2022 9:44:26 GMT -5
If you are willing to help, please let me know! Regards, MCHSHeritageGarden Please PM me an address to mail you seeds. Shortly before he passed on Martin sent me seeds and instructions. I am sure it would delight him (and me) to have his seeds sent to you!
But you must, please, update us all here on your progress!!
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Post by mchsheritagegarden on Feb 15, 2022 22:23:37 GMT -5
Spike,
I just wanted to give you an update. I received the Amish Bottle Onion seeds today. I threw the envelope in the small refrigerator in my classroom and waited for my students. You should have seen their faces when I told them that I had good news to share and went and pulled a letter out of my refrigerator. They were all quite perplexed. I didn't tell them what it was until I opened the contents and showed them the package.
I explained and needless to say, the story and description created quite a bit of interest and questions. Of course, none of the students had ever even heard of an onion like this. Virtually all of them have very little knowledge about food other than eating it. Immediately several of them began searching for pictures and of course found images of the modern torpedo onions that are easily mistaken for the bottle onions. I had to explain that they are not the same thing but of course some of them tell me that there is no difference and I should just buy the torpedo shaped ones.
The idea of growing something that seems to be so rare is an exciting thing but they are disappointed that there will not be anything they will be able to eat until around the time that they graduate next year (They are juniors right now)! But as previously stated by a member in this thread...they have to learn that this is how it was "back in the day" and that raising food was a difficult. In fact, it was often a precarious, long process and that you needed to be grateful when it worked and you were successful.
I have several students who have volunteered to help me plant them later this year. I saw the directions showed not to plant the seeds until late June in order to grow sets for planting the following spring.
Question: Does anybody with experience know when I should pull the onions as sets? August...Early September?
Thanks again Spike for the seeds and giving us the chance to experience this rare onion. My students and I are really excited!!! I will continue to update and ask questions moving forward!
MCHSHeritageGarden
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Post by spike on Feb 16, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5
mchsheritagegarden, You and your students have filled my heart with joy. I am sure Martin is smiling down from the great garden in the sky also! Thank you so much!! Spike
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Post by stratcat on Feb 16, 2022 16:21:20 GMT -5
Hi there, mchsheritagegarden. I'm glad you're getting your students into gardening. This is a great project. Look forward to hearing updates. Welcome to NJT! 🍅
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ponyexpress
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Post by ponyexpress on Mar 24, 2022 14:00:56 GMT -5
Spike, Question: Does anybody with experience know when I should pull the onions as sets? August...Early September? Just wait until the onion tops die off and then you can pull them to finish drying. If you go back a few pages in this thread, you'll see pictures of us posting our seedlings progress and then pulling the onions. There's also more details/pictures over at Tomato Junction Amish Bottle Onion thread. www.tomatojunction.com/amish-yellow-bottle-onions-t1176-20.html?hilit=bottle%20onionsI plan to have lots of seeds from my onions this year from the bulbs I've planted. I'll be happy to share some with your class and others in this thread. Just PM me your address.
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