We love hearing our customers' success
stories and
seeing photos of their garden bounty and
prize-winning onions. Please share yours
and, if
selected, you'll be featured in our online
Photo Album,
an upcoming newsletter, or our next catalog
-- maybe
even the catalog cover. Click
here for more information. We can't wait to see
what you send us!
And now on to the main feature, and a timely
one it is: Onion Harvesting
Tips.
Now that the summer is beginning to wind
down,
it's
time to plan the harvesting of your onions.
You'll find
that they'll become ready to harvest in late
July or early
August (right about now, in other words),
when most
of the tops have fallen over.
You should pull the onions early in the
morning on a
sunny day, and allow them to air dry until late
afternoon. Clip the roots and cut back the
tops to one
inch. After drying them outside for one day,
bring
inside for longer drying and curing,
spreading them
out in a dry place away from the sun.
If there's no room in your house to dry your
onions,
spread them out at the end of the driveway
with a
cotton sheet over them, to keep out heat and
circulate
air. Put rocks
along the edges of the sheet to keep it in place.
Allow 2-3 weeks for complete drying or curing.
Basics of curing:
Sun dry for just a short time.
Cure only the onions you'll store;
separate out the
soft, young and thick-necked bulbs and use them
first.
Cure thoroughly in a warm,
well-ventilated area
away from direct sunlight.
Don't crowd the onions during curing;
give them
room to breathe.
The onions are ready to store when the
skins rattle
and the roots are dry and wiry.
The optimum temperature for storing onions is 50
degrees; the optimum humidity is 35%. After
curing,
hang your onions in mesh bags in your garage,
and
dry them some more before putting them in
root cellar.
The longer you cure your onions, the better
they'll keep.
Bruce "Onionman" Frasier
Product of the Month: 10 lb. Mesh Netting
Old pantyhose is great for storing your harvested and
dried onions, but for some reason our legal advisers
won't let us sell that. This mesh netting is the next
best thing, and at a dollar a bundle ($0.75 for ten or
more), it's almost as cheap. It's perfect for keeping
those onions harvest-fresh.
Note: The "10 lb." refers to the tensile strength of
the netting, not the weight of onions it will hold!
And remember, we've got all kinds of other harvest
aids on hand for your convenience, from net bags to
onion shears!
Don F. from California sent us several photos of his
latest onion crop. He's pictured here holding some
tremendous Ailsa Craig specimens. By the way, check
out the background in this photo; Don has a great
container garden set up.
We love hearing from customers. Send us your
favorite "onion photo" and we'll try to include it in a
future newsletter. To email photos, send them to
customerservice@dixondalefarms.com.
From Jeanie's Kitchen
Crispy Barbequed Onions
1 lb onions, red or yellow, cut into 1/8" rings
3 cup flour
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
Mix all the dry ingredients together to make seasoned
flour. Toss the onion slices in the seasoned flour,
separating the rings. Deep-fry them in 365° oil until
crispy and dark-brown. Drain well. Makes 16 servings.
Serve with steak, beans and barbecue sauce.
Enjoy!
Q&A: Skin-cracking
Q. What causes skin cracking on onions?
A. After harvesting onions are dried,
they need
to be cooled. Cooling them too quickly causes
the skins to crack. One way to monitor air
temperature is to
obtain a thermometer or hygrometer. On days when
the air temperature is higher than the
temperature
inside your storage area, keep the storage area
closed. Bringing warm air into the storage
area will
cause condensation on the onions.
Onion Factoid
A serving of onions contains only 30 calories. That's
hard to beat!
Send Us Your Product Reviews!
In addition to sending us photos of your onions, we
encourage you to give us feedback on our products via
the Product Review options on the website. You'll find
a "write your own review" link on every product page.
Don't be shy -- we need your opinions!
About Dixondale Farms
As the largest and oldest onion plant farm in the US,
Dixondale Farms offers a wide selection of top-quality,
disease-free, ready-to-plant onion plants. To see our
complete product line, request a catalog, or for
growing tips and cultural information, visit our
web site by clicking
here.
Whether you're planting one bunch or thousands of
acres, we're committed to your success. If you have
either questions or suggestions, we'd love to hear
from you. You can reach us from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Central
Time at 877-367-1015, or email us any time
at
customerservice@dixondalefarms.com.
