Its flowers turn into bulbils, which are like miniature onion bulbs. The weight of the bulbils causes the flower stem to lean over. Wherever it touches the ground, it roots and produces a new plant. This is how the onion "walks" and expands itself. Cut a few leaves to use in cooking as green onions (I do this later in the spring when it begins to flower so that I won't cut off the precious flower stalks by accident). Also, in late summer pull up and harvest the bulbs, but leave some bulbs and bulbils in place so that the onion patch will come back next year. Give some bulbils to friends to share the fun.
This is our favorite onion. It is exceptionally sweet, and it goes well on cold sandwiches, such as roast beef with mayo, or sliced roast chicken breast and mayo. There is nothing better to add crisp taste to summer salads. They do not store well, and therefore we use them straight from the garden. That is not a problem here because they are in high demand for the table.
Large, heavy weight, frequently grown for competitions. A Spanish-type onion with a straw-golden tunic. Mild and very sweet.
Developed by Dr. Leonard Pike (TAMU) in response to growers in the Rio Grande Valley who wanted more consistent performance and disease resistance.
This is our first experience growing these large sweet onions and I'm more than a little surprised at the size and quality of this cultivar. We are an onion-loving, country-cooking type of family; and onions fit into most of our summer and winter meal plans. We haven't tried these yet in a lot of dishes, but I'm sure they will fit in with burgers, hot dogs, and brats. Chili might require something with a little more zip. One thing we might do next year is to plant fewer onions because our cellar will be overcrowded for a couple of months.
Also known as multiplier onion because each bulb will form underground bulb clusters. These are perennial onions that can be planted in the fall along with garlic and shallots. My potato onion is listed as 'Yellow Potato Onion' (aka Hill, Mother, or Pregnant Onion), which is said to be a 1982 SESE reintroduction of an heirloom strain dating back to before 1790.
Last year (2012) was the first year ever for Red Wing in our gardens. We bought plants after reading of their long storage quality. To make a long story short, 2012 was a disaster here for drought, high temperatures, and suffocating humidity levels. Most of the vegetables survived (with plenty of irrigation), but Red Wing was the champion survivor among the onions! And, along with our Kennebec potatoes, these onions lasted us well into April, 2013. Now with a near normal growing season, it looks like we have a bumper crop of these in addition to our Copra, Candy, and Big Daddy onions. Their size seems above average too. An excellent choice for keeping long term.
This year was good locally for onion crops. Copra is the mainstay in my onion patch, being an all-around good onion for cooking, soups, stews & grilling. What's more, it keeps through the winter when cured and stored properly. I've kept them successfully over winter through March into April. This year produced large, firm onions, with the largest weighing 1 pound 2.8 ounces. I might add they add a nice zingy flavor to grilled burgers.
This is my first year growing these onions. They are everything I've read about them. They have a mild and very sweet flavor and crisp textured flesh. Their size varies here from about 2½ inches to around three inches maximum as shown in my photo above. These are considered intermediate day onions and therefore do not grow large in this zone. However, their other qualities make up for any lack of size. These can be stored for about two months.
Many of the sets I started did not take...those that did produced smallish, but very good onions with good color. Stored very well.
