Hanging Around

When we planted last year's onion crop our mouths watered. We ended up with rows and rows of onions ~ yellow, white and purple. We ate the tops for months while the bulbs filled out underground, just snipping off a bit from each plant and using them like chives and in salads. 

When it was time to harvest we all ate onions every way imaginable, savoring their mild and sweet flavors. When we could no longer keep up with the amount harvested, we started storing them to use later. I filled up wire baskets in my pantry. Then we hung them in bunches all along the pantry wall. The potatoes and garlic and shallots are also stored in there, so it feels like we have a root cellar indoors. We topped off the pantry with onions and hung them in the mudroom. When that was full we moved out to the porch. 

With our Texas summer temps, we weren't sure if the porch idea was a good one, or a rotten one. But this experiment counts as a success so far. It's pretty nice to walk out on the front porch and snag an onion when I'm fixing supper. 

I don't know what others think when they come to our home and see these bunches hanging from the porch eaves where baskets of flowers should be. I'm used to the onions now and feel they add a certain homey charm. But that might just be me. 

No matter. They are storing nicely there, and there they must stay until we finally eat them all up. By then, I'll bet it will be time to plant onions again. Rows and rows of them.