This is an old traditional weather rhyme - is it correct? does the thickness of onion skins vary from year to year? Can't say I've ever noticed.
Onion's skin very thin
Mild winter coming in,
Onion's skin thick and tough,
Coming winter cold and rough.
So many of my recipes start with an onion and would be tasteless without, which always reminds me of the cooks in wartime who had to do without them. Back then hardly any onions were grown in this country and it was only later that Onion Sets became available for the home gardener. Sets are one year old onions that have been grown from seed, dug and stored over winter to be sold for planting in February or March.
We always grew a bed full of onions, from sets, at the smallholding that kept us going nearly all year. For a few years we also grew the over-winter onions which became available in the 1990's . The sets for these are planted in Autumn and ready in early summer - filling the gap before usual onions are lifted. We stopped growing those when we had some problems with onion rot in the maincrop and it was thought they might cross contaminate.
I looked at the onion page in my little book "A Potted History of Vegetables" by Lorraine Harrison.
On the history of onions the book says that remains of onions were found in Neolithic Age settlements in Jericho, dating back to 5,000BC. They are thought to be native to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. They were introduced into India and Mediterranean regions and by Roman times their use was widespread.
I tried growing onions this year again even though I'd said the year before that the space was better used for something that either costs more or better eaten very fresh from the garden. All I ended up with was a handful of golf ball size as they got flattened early on - next door neighbours cat perhaps?
Definitely Not growing them in 2024. I'd rather have more space for green beans, runner beans and sweetcorn.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I love onions of all kinds, cooked, pickled and raw. As far as that little rain goes, a friend of my father always used to say, these rhymes that predict future weather trends are based on the weather conditions in spring, when the plant was growing. I miss Vidalia onions from Virginia. No onion comes close
ReplyDeletep.s. onions are cheap enough to give your space over to more expensive to buy crops.
DeleteExactly right about them being cheap enough - same as carrots and potatoes when there is a space shortage
DeleteI should like to know the answer to the question about the thickness of the onion skin. I wonder if it’s like the notion that animals’ fur thickness denotes the severity of a winter.
ReplyDeleteHard to imagine life without onions.
Years ago I was given Russian garlic aka Elephant garlic and last year because of exceptional rainfall it was a great crop and I’m enjoying it very much.
I guess supermarket onions have already had a layer removed as they are always thinner skinned than home grown
DeleteThanks for sharing the information about onions-we use red ones where possible as I find them sweeter. I had the Remoska out yesterday doing a big batch of basic quorn mince, onions, peppers, passata and cannellini beans. One portion in fridge ready for tonight’s meal and rest portioned in freezer. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI have grown red onions in the past but they never keep so well
DeleteI have never known life without an onion to put in the casserole. So according to my red onions with their thick skins we are going to have a hard and cold winter. Joy!
ReplyDeleteSitting here with a hat on as my central heating isn't working and the convector isn't doing much good, so I hope it's mended before the Hard and Cold winter!
DeleteI don't think many of our vegetables we grow and eat originate from these shores. Most of them came along the Silk road to Europe from Asia and the Spanish introduced the humble spud. I like to start my onions sets off in trays or plastic modules inside the polytunnel instead of planting in the cold and wet soil in Spring.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we lived on meat and weeds before all our veg arrived here!
DeleteI'm with you, Sue. The only onions I grow are spring onions. The others are easy to buy and not really worth the effort of growing.
ReplyDeleteI love spring onions but have never had much luck growing them
DeleteWe always grew our onions from seed. I had never seen sets begore coming to UK.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that sets were not a common way to grow onions - that's interesting
DeleteEat your onions. . they’re good for you. Words spoken by my Irish granny well before it was ‘healthy’ to do so.
ReplyDeleteLots of odd recipes that involve onions for curing the common cold - I need to try them!
DeleteI have never heard that rhyme before today. I wonder if there's any truth in it.
ReplyDeleteI've examined the onions I have here and still have no idea!
DeleteWe always grew onions until we moved here 20 years ago where we found any attempt ended in failure. The sets just sat in the soil and looked at us. (You might be right about cats as our garden is like Paddington Station for felines.) We tried again 5 years or so ago and they did actually grow but were so puny we decided not to bother again. It's a shame because your own onions are a bit nicer than bought.
ReplyDeleteI liked having different sizes when they are homegrown
DeleteI grew shallots for the first time this year, and have them on strings out in the cool garage. After my pathetic pencil-like leeks, I have decided that in 2024 I shall give alliums generally a miss [apart from the decorative floral ones in the planter]
ReplyDeletePSA why were there so few onions grown in wartime?
DeleteOnions were always imported before WW2. Imports stopped during wartime so people grew a few at home if they could. They were rare.
DeleteFrench onion sellers on their bicycles were a common sight before the war!
DeleteNot on the onion topic, but when you refer to green beans and runner beans, are you perhaps referring to what we Americans call green "bush" beans and pole beans - still green beans just a different variety?
ReplyDeleteI think Runner beans are what you call pole beans and what I call green beans are French climbing beans - pencil size.
DeleteCan't cook without onions, they're practically in everything,
ReplyDeleteYep, start with an onion in everything
DeleteYellow, red, and white onions, I love them all and have them on-hand at all times. Last night, I stir fried chopped onions with peppers for a topping on my steak dinner with a baked potato side. Fried onions are nice added to rice or mashed potato. Add the garlic to the mix and I'm in heaven.
ReplyDeleteI think that this might be true. We are supposed to have a very cold winter this year and our harvested onions have very thick, tough skins.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
We still have a couple of allotment grown onions to use up. They have quite thin skins and need eating. The leeks have been a total disaster, hardly grown at all and pencil thin. Not worth growing next year. However, we do have some fine Brussels sprouts to pick 👍😊
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I have tried to grow onions. They never seem to grow. I have harvested garlic bulbs larger than my onions.😭
ReplyDeleteYou can get good onions so very easily (and still fairly cheaply) in the shops, I agree that the space would be better used on other things. I've never tried them, not even when we had the allotment. xx
ReplyDeleteOnions (organic) here in Louisiana are at least $1 ea. or more! Am currently growing some in organic soil, though they often rot when we have a wet winter. Who can predict?
ReplyDelete