Tuesday, September 16, 2008

New kid on the block

That's right. My back porch container garden has expanded with the newest kid on the block - 2 green onion plants. As I was hanging out with Lois Vaughn at the farmers market two Saturdays ago, she offered me a handful of bulbs and told me how to plant them.  And plant them, I did. 

It was way too easy. I just filled up two pots with some compost from the backyard, broke off an onion bulb for each, and stuck them right down into the soil (leaving about half of the onion still visible above the soil line - see photo to the left).

The remainder of the bulbs were turned into a delicious stir fry. That meant some immediate goodies, and the promise of more to come. 

One week after planting, the bulb had already split (see photo below). You can see the gorgeous green shoots coming up from the center. How exciting is this? I mean seriously, this is only a week's growth! Before long, I'll be nibbling on onions from my own back yard. No one's crying over these onions!

Also, I recently finished my Square Foot Gardening book. We're planning on constructing a raised bed in the coming weeks and I'm eagerly planning which crops will be planted in each square. Stay tuned as our first garden comes together throughout the fall.

How about everyone else out there? Plans for a fall garden?

7 comments:

J said...

Glad to see how well your onions are doing. I look forward to keeping up with their progress.

Wahoo about your raised bed! That is really exciting. I can't wait to see what you grow and how well it does!

I need to add that book to my insane "books I want to read" list.

Anonymous said...

Cool beans. Good luck!

hmd said...

jennifer - I've been amazed at how quickly they've grown! Once I get the full garden bed going, I think I'll move them there. They're just WAY too easy!

timeus - Thanks! I can hardly wait to pull onions from my own backyard!

ttammylynn said...

New life is so exciting...I recently started alfalfa sprouts. They are trying to overtake their container. I cannot eat them fast enough, I eat them well, nearly everyday lately...now, that's local. Hubby says I need to do salad mix sprouts...sounds pretty good to me.

hmd said...

ttammylynn - that does sound like a good idea. The sprouts you grow indoors, don't you?

ttammylynn said...

yes, and I got the sprouter and alfalfa seeds on the last Frontier order from Yadi. They sit on my windowsill(although the sun really can't get in). I just rinse them with purified water twice a day(I soaked them overnight to start).I've used another sprouter, but it made my seeds mold and barely produce. I really like this one.

hmd said...

ttammylynn - sounds like an easy way to have some SUPER local veggies :)