Know your onions and use your bulb now
Have you got the blues because the ‘grow it yourself ’ season has drawn to a close? Are you itching to get outside and plant something edible? Well lucky for you, there are still a few winter hardy vegetables worth growing. In fact, now is an excellent time for planting two culinary essentials, garlic and onions.
People are often surprised to hear that garlic grows well in Ireland. This may stem from the fact that up until 40 years ago, garlic did not feature in traditional rural Irish cuisine. Thankfully garlic is now an Irish household staple and treasured for its flavour and health giving properties.
Originally a native of the mountainous regions of Central Asia, it has adapted to extreme changes in temperature including very cold nights. As a result, garlic performs best when subjected to a cold period of one or two months.
Ground temperatures of between 0 — 10º celsius encourages optimum clove formation making it very suited to our Irish climate and autumn planting often produces better crops than garlic sown in spring. This has certainly been my experience.
An old wives tale recommends that garlic will grow best when planted on the shortest day of the year, but as this falls on December 21, chances are the ground will be wet and the soil unworkable.
Garlic enjoys a long growing season, so if planted in October up to early November, the harvest usually occurs in August and the bulbs are much bigger.
There are many varieties available, so choose an autumn variety such as Vallelado or Early Wight. Buy the best quality, certified disease free bulbs and avoid planting supermarket garlic as chances are, it has come from China and will not adapt to our growing conditions.
As garlic is a member of the Allium family, ensure to follow a crop rotation and do not plant it in a bed where onions have been harvested. If your soil is very heavy, incorporate organic matter or plant in a raised bed. You may choose to plant your garlic through a ground fabric such as mypex for that added bit of winter protection.
A small blow-torch is ideal for making holes in the mypex through which to plant your cloves, without causing fraying. Ensure to remove your ground cover next year before the garlic is fully swollen so as to keep it in perfect condition for the next growing season.
Garlic for planting is supplied in a whole bulb and should be split into cloves prior to planting. Cloves should be planted pointy end up and about 6 — 10 cm deep. Leave ample spacing each way in the rows, approx 15-20cm should allow for good sized bulbs to be harvested next year.
Garlic is relatively easy to grow and it is virtually pest free doesbut it does suffer from the same diseases as other Alliums, so it is essential to keep a good rotation.
If your garlic crop is strong and healthy, you could save some bulbs for onward planting.
Like garlic, there are also autumn varieties of onions such as Radar, which grow slowly over winter to give you a crop of fresh onions next May or June. Perfect timing, as this is just when your stored onions will have started to sprout.
Often called ‘Japanese’ onions (because they were first developed in Japan), these can be sown outside from mid August up to late October. The main benefit of growing overwintering onions is that you will have a crop of onions ready for eating about a month before your main crop is ready for harvest.
Taste wise, they are every bit as good as main crop onions and they are traditionally harvested with their fresh green leaves intact — these are delicious when used in cooking. Plant as you would normal onion sets and make sure to follow a crop rotation.
As with garlic, plant in free draining, weed free soil and it could pay to plant through mypex or use a mulch.
To prevent birds pulling out your sets, cover them with a fleece, which should be removed when the first shoots appear or use other scare methods, such as cds on a string.
Be warned that casualty rates can be high in an exceptionally cold winter. Mulch the bed with a thick layer of straw if severe frost is forecast and remove the mulch next Spring, once the plants begin actively growing again.
Stay calm if your over-wintering onions start to look dishevelled during the winter spell and remember that they will do most of their growing during spring.
By sowing spring and autumn varieties of onions in any given year and using good storage techniques, it is possible to enjoy your own supply of homegrown organic onions, all year round.
If you are looking for good quality certified, disease free organic onion sets or garlic for autumn planting, check out Fruit Hill Farm in Bantry. They are a mail order company with an extensive catalogue that supplies top \quality, environmentally friendly, house, farm and garden supplies. You can order by phone or online and have your garden goodies delivered directly to your door.
¦ Fruit Hill Farm, Bantry, Co Cork, http:// www.fruithillfarm.com.
Tel: 027 50710.
Email: fhf@eircom.net
¦ Come along to The Secret Garden Centre, Newmarket, on Sunday for a celebration of all things ‘apple’. Attended by McNamara Nurseries and Ballyhoura Apple Farm, learn more about growing apples, as well as buying locally produced juices and apple products. For more information, call 029-60084 or visit www.thesecretgardener.com.
¦ Alpine/Hardy Plant Society will meet on Thursday next, at 8pm, in the Lavanagh Centre to hear Graham Gough, Marchant’s Hardy Plants, Sussex, give a presentation on The Icing On The Cake — a selection of firm favourites. Plants for sale and all are welcome.
¦ The Owenabue Garden Club, Carrigaline, will host their decorative show in C of I Hall (beside main entrance to the community school) on Monday next at 8pm. Demonstrator will be Sheila Gilbert, talking on ‘seasonal events’. Visitors welcome. Enquiries to 086-8091627.
¦ Blarney and District Flower and Garden Club invites its members (only) to a “competitions and fun quiz night” in Whitechurch community centre on Thursday next at 8pm.
¦ Free talk on Let’s Make Bulb Planting Easy — tips and advice on planting bulbs, with a goody bag of bulbs for everyone in the audience, at Griffin’s, Dripsey, on Monday at noon. Repeat talk on Wednesday and Friday, also at noon.
¦ A ‘snowdrop gala’ (and other spring treasures) will take place at Ballykealey Manor, near Altamont, Co Carlow, on Saturday, Feb 2 next, beginning at 9.30am. Early booking essential and the cost, €60, includes lectures, lunch, admission to bulb sale and a guided tour of Altamont with the head gardener. Full details in January next, but contact Hester Forde at 086-8654972, or Robert Miller at 087-9822135, for bookings.
¦ Lough Flower and Garden Club will host Nikky Darrell to speak and give a slide presentation of The Medicinal Use of Plants at their meeting on Tuesday next at 8pm in the SMA Hall, Wilton. All welcome to attend.
¦ The Secret Garden Centre, Newmarket, Co Cork, has been voted a finalist in the category ‘greenest garden centre UK’ (awarded to a garden centre that demonstrates the best attitude to environmental awareness within its operation). Owner Brian Paterson said: “Hundreds of people enter these awards every year, and being selected as a finalist, not just from Irish garden centres but also UK ones, is a reflection of our dedication to running the greenest garden centre that we can”. The awards presentation will take place on Wednesday, Nov 7, at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.
¦ CORK GIY meeting. Tim Rowe talks on Bees and Why you Need to Encourage them into your Garden, Tuesday, Nov 6, in the South Parish Community Centre at 7.30 pm. No admission fee. All welcome.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
