Onions Make Me Cry

I don't know what's wrong with the onions I planted last fall.

I never really thought about how onions grew until it started looking like mine weren't growing. I planted lots of onion sets in mid-October, well within the window for planting onions in the fall, or so I thought. Just recently, I started to wonder about those onions. They had pretty good tops on them, but when I pulled up a few, they hadn't bulbed - the bulb hadn't grown. So I decided I needed to do a little reading about onions. I found the following in The South Carolina Master Gardener Training Manual - "Short-day varieties, suited throughout South Carolina, begin to bulb when there are 10 to 12 hours of daylight." So, if onions for our area bulb when there is 10-12 hours of daylight, then the time frame for this is January 5th through March 21st in the spring and September 21 and December 3 in the fall. According to this information, onions in the fall need to planted well before mid-October.

(Just now, looking up the quote, I also read that lack of water could hinder bulb growth - so that could be my problem.)

As for planting onions in the spring, we're in that bulbing window now. I don't have mine in the ground yet - I've been too busy getting raised beds built and filled. I'll probably put out onions and potatoes in the next week. And I'm definitely going to need my landscaped beds as well - for all the potatoes and onions I have and all the summer crops I want to plant.

Local Feed and Seed Sources

I meant to put this in the last post, but it might be better here, by itself:

17-A Feed and Seed
2026 North Main Street, Summerville
(843) 832-0540

Dorchester Feed and Supply
10310 Highway 78, Summerville
(843) 875-9776

Red Top Feed and Tackle Shop
3815 Highway 17, Charleston
(843) 763-6651

My current preference is Red Top Feed, but that may change in the fall, depending om whether they have what I need.

Time to plant onions and potatoes

It's that time of year again - well, one of them - time to plant onions and potatoes. I've had mixed results finding ones to plant over the last year or so. Last spring was the first time I had planted either. I happened to find onion sets at Lowes, but I had to go to a "feed and seed" for potatoes. The first place I called was 17-A Feed and Seed in Summerville. They normally had onions, but they hadn't gotten their supply yet, so I bought five pounds each of red and white potaotoes. I think five pounds works out to about 20-30 potatoes.

I was fairly happy with the outcome of my first time growing onions and potatoes. The onions didn't get as big as I had hoped and we harvested a lot of our potatoes as "new" potatoes, instead of waiting for them to mature. Also, let me stress the importance of hilling - mounding the soil around the potato plant once it starts growing. Some potatoes will form near the surface, actually coming out of the ground - and you don't want that. The potato will turn green and that's bad. This sounds crazy, but the potato is one of those plants that everything is poisonous except the fruit. So, we lost some potatoes to that and then the rain came. We had so much rain, flooding the garden. The remaining potatoes rotted. It didn't help that I was planting in the ground and our soil was largely clay. I've got raised beds this time, so I'm hoping for a much better crop this spring.

Last fall I planted another crop of onions, hoping to do better this time. Lowes didn't have any so I called 17-A Feed and Seed again. They didn't have any so I called Dorchester Feed and Supply. I figured they were the next closest place. They said they had some onions, but were running out. This surprised me, because it was barely time to plant - everyone must have gotten theirs early - so I went out in a hurry to buy onions. They sold white and yellow onion sets by the half pound and by the pound. I thought a half pound wouldn't be enough so I bought a pound of each. It turned out a pound probably was a couple of hundred onions - at Lowes I only got about sixty. I had so many that I was planting them everywhere I could and still had enough to give a hundred or more to a few neighbors. After buying those, I noticed Royall Ace Hardware in Mount Pleasant had the same ones as Lowes had last time.

It made sense to me that you could plant potatoes in the fall just like onions. I found a small amount of information on it, mostly planting dates for South Carolina, but no one I talked to had ever planted potatoes in the fall. They encouraged me to do it and let them know how it well it went. I didn't do it this past fall, but I plan to try this year. I think it's not more widely done, because certified seed potatoes aren't readily available that time of year. I found in a gardening catalog the other day, seed potato "eyes" for about what I would pay for potatoes in the spring. That's probably a good deal, because most prices on potatoes in catalogs probably run about $20 for the same amount you can buy at the feed and seed for $5 - the catalog does give you a larger variety. Hopefully the "eyes" will be available in the summer/fall. If not, I'll have to experiment with store-bought potatoes.It made sense to me that you could plant potatoes in the fall just like onions. I found a small amount of information on it, mostly planting dates for South Carolina, but no one I talked to had ever planted potatoes in the fall. They encouraged me to do it and let them know how it well it went. I didn't do it this past fall, but I plan to try this year. I think it's not more widely done, because certified seed potatoes aren't readily available that time of year. I found in a gardening catalog the other day, seed potato "eyes" for about what I would pay for potatoes in the spring. That's probably a good deal, because most prices on potatoes in catalogues probably run about $20 for the same amount you can buy at the feed and seed for $5 - the catalog does give you a larger variety. Hopefully the "eyes" will be available in the summer/fall. If not, I'll have to experiment with store-bought potatoes.

This spring I called both of the places I bought from in the past and they didn't have any, so I called a third place - Red Top Feed and Tackle Shop - and they had onions and potatoes this year. I went out there and got a pound each of red and yellow onions (I think - maybe white) and five pounds each of white, red and Yukon gold potaotes. That's my reason for constructing more raised beds - I have too much to plant.

PS - I had sort of a rambling about growing onions, which I'll save for a later post.

Caveat Emptor

I've offered my assistance to a few friends and neighbors as far as starting out vegetable gardening and they seemed to have appreciated it. I hope it works out for them, but I do want to say that I have had no formal training in horticulture or gardening. I have done a lot of reading on topics that I enjoy, like succulents, vegetables and water gardening. I have also been forced to learn about certain plants, when I find a good deal on one or when I find one on the street or when Robin brings one home. I haven't done too much reading on other important areas, like soil quality, pest and diseases. I planned to spend time reading this winter, but with planning the veggie garden and the realization that we truly have a four season vegetable garden here in South Carolina, I haven't had time. I should also mention that can be a big TV junkie at times.

I try to tell it like it is on this blog - my successes and failures - and whether something I'm doing is new or it's worked for me before. I hope people will learn from my mistakes as I have, so they don't waste the time and energy on a losing technique. I'm not saying mine are the best for everybody, but I hope my experience will help someone out there.

Goodbye Paul James!

I woke up Sunday morning to discover that Paul James' show "Gardening by the Yard" is no longer showing on HGTV. Over the last couple of years, its schedule has changed a few times, even airing twice a week for a time last year. For the most part, they were reruns, except for a handful of episodes last year - I still watched them every time they were on. There may be segments that might not interest me at one time, but they might on a future viewing.

I heard last year that his show was canceled, but I never read anything definitive, and HGTV was still airing "Gardening by the Yard" - until Sunday. His show was the last real gardening show on TV. Shows are more likely to involve "landscaping" or "design". Plants are used as design elements, so you don't learn anything about the plants horticulturally.

I did find Paul James' website today, which includes a blog and other content. That will keep me busy for now, and hopefully his show will return to TV, if only in reruns.

Is Vegetable Gardening Worth It?

Is vegetable gardening worth it? I have many reasons for saying this, but don't worry - I'm just playing devil's advocate. I've put in a lot of hard work building raised beds, hauling compost, pulling weeds, fretting over germinating seeds, and many other things, just to grow vegetables that aren't as large or as plentiful as those in the grocery store. And if you want a tomato in January, good luck with that one.

Because of the rain - blame El Niño - and the cold, I've been in a holding pattern for longer than I would like to be. I have raised beds to build , compost to haul and potatoes and onions to plant, and short windows of time to do these things, and for what? Potatoes are $2 for a five pound bag and onions are $3 for a three pound bag.

I was reminded of that fact when Robin and I were watching "Kitchen Nightmares" and the owner of a potato-themed restaurant was ecstatic when she was given free potatoes - we looked at each other like, "She must not know how much potatoes cost!"

I doubt my abilities some times, especially when I make big plans - I wonder if I can pull it off. Last year I had plans to grow everything from seed, from flowers to vegetables, but things didn't go as planned. I'm afraid I will have the same luck again this year, but I know better. I've learned a lot since then and hopefully have planned better this time. I have plans for a cold frame in the yard for seed starting. All I need are my seeds from Park Seed - I'm still waiting on them.