How to Store Onions

You've grown your own organic onions, and got a great harvest, now you need to store them so they will keep for as long as possible.

Here are some tips on keeping onions fresh and useable for a long time.

• Many years, if you've fertilized your onions with wood ashes and glacial rock dust, this will give them the potential for longer storage.

• Harvesting them correctly is also a factor in the storage potential.  They need to be pulled from the ground when they're dry (reduce or eliminate irrigation) and then put into a dry place in a single layer to cure.

• In some areas, the drying leaves are braided together and the braid hung in a cellar.  This might give you an indication of the right kind of conditions they need - dry air, and not touching each other.

• If onions start to sprout in storage - don't put them in the compost yet!  You can chop the green parts as - you guessed it - green onions!

• When you cut an onion and use part of it for cooking, the rest of it should last at least a few days in a clean yogurt container in the fridge.

Onions generally don't last long in my house because I use them for cooking throughout the winter, but following these tips will ensure that I have fresh onions until March or so.