Mr McGregor: Learnt New Techniques

I must admit I have been taking it easy recently, but I have been working hard both in the garden and on the allotment, so I think a couple of lazy days reading in the garden is a well deserved treat. So I have been sitting back, watching the butterflies and bumble bees enjoying the flowers that have filled the garden with colour and reading my allotment guide and gardening magazines.

As you know I have been harvesting my onion bulbs and I found a great article on drying them. Drying onions are essential if you want to store them for a long time and Kitchen Garden’s Joyce Russell has certainly put in some time finding out different methods to do this.

There is a total of 6 methods to choose from but I think the best method Ms Russell came up with is ‘Method 2: Spread onions on black plastic sheeting’. I’m definitely going to try this one:

“If the crop has been grown through a sheet of black plastic, used a mulch, then lifting them onto this is as easy as the method above. Otherwise, a sheet of black plastic can be spread out anywhere in the garden and the onions spread on top. The plastic absorbs heat, and any moisture dries quickly, so the process of drying is speeded up. If enough plastic is used, it can be folded over to cover the onions and to keep the rain and dew off the crop. If the weather is really wet, however, onions can’t be left to sweat between two layers of polythene.”

Have a go and see what it could do for your storage of onions

Mr McGregor