Onions were one of the first vegetables I ever grew. I didn't know much about growing them, but they required very little babysitting, and were some of the finest onions I've ever eaten. They tasted like butter....in a good way.

While the soil I was working with spoiled me - 300 years of cow poop made for an AMAZING garden - I've done a bit more research on growing onions so that I can be successful with any type of soil.

Onions play as big a role in my kitchen as, say, garlic or potatoes. I try to add them into nearly every meal we have. In scrambled eggs, soups, casseroles, bakes...you name it.

Nutritional Info on Onions

They are one of the sulfur-rich foods Dr Terry Wahls recommends play an important part in our diet. They're also high in biotin, manganese, copper, Vitamins B6 and C as well as other phytonutrients. They've been scientifically proven to help prevent some cancers, reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, and even regulate blood sugar in diabetics.

Medicinal Uses of Onions

Medicinally, onion juice has been used to treat skin irritations and cuts because of they're anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Warm onion juice can also be used to treat earaches. I've even heard of securing a sliced onion on the bottom of your foot with a sock and sleeping with it there to treat common colds and flues.

Growing Onions

You can grow onions from seed, but I recommend buying onion "sets" - or already started onions. If you start your onions from seed, dig a 1/4 inch trench and sow them in a straight line. You'll pinch off the ones that don't thrive.

If you start your onions from sets, plant your sets in groups of four - they'll grow away from each other and be easier to weed and water.

Soil pH

5.5-6.5

Sunlight

3+ hours per day

Water

Roughly one inch per week

Planting Time

Start your seeds in Jan-Mar. Plant your sets as soon as the soil is warm enough to be worked.

Companion Plants

Beets, strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, roses, chamomile

Avoid Plants

Beans, Peas

Spacing

4 inches

Maintenance

Weed and mulch

Harvest

When the stalks turn yellow and fall over

Preserving

Dry your onions in a light, airy place with the dirt and dry skin peels still on. Or make onion soups and can it. Or slice thinly and dehydrate to make onion powder. Or slice and keep in a freezer baggy in the freezer.