These brilliant bulbs are modern kitchen essentials, and are just as valuable in the garden, too!
Garlic, onions, and shallots truly are the unsung heroes of the kitchen. While they’re rarely the main ingredient in many of our favorite dishes, they’re often essential ones, sweetening our burgers with caramelized goodness or spicing up our pasta sauces with a delightfully earthy kick. Luckily, these members of the allium family are also incredibly easy to grow in your garden. Here’s how!
Why Grow Your Own Onions, Shallots, and Garlic?
The common onion rarely gets enough publicity these days, but when you peel back the layers, this pungent vegetable has so much to offer. Growing like a spring bulb, they’re one of the few true edible flowers you’ll find in your vegetable patch. With a short growing time, they provide the possibility of multiple crops, as well as the ability for long-term storage. Plus, you’d be surprised at how many varieties are available to the aspiring onion connoisseur. Their more mild and elegant cousin, the shallot, is just as savory to grow in your garden and enjoy in the kitchen.
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Finally, there’s garlic, that delicious bulb that keeps away garden pests while spicing up your pesto and stir-fries. Few other vegetables deserve our praise as much as these bold and valuable bulbs!
What Growing Conditions Do I Need for Onions, Shallots, and Garlic?
As close members of the allium family, onions, shallots, and garlic share the following common growing preferences:
- Soil: Since onions, shallots, and garlic are all bulbs, they each need loose, loamy soil that drains well. Even sandier soil is better than clay-based soil because the bulbs need the freedom to grow underground and remain well-drained and rot-free. Starting with soil that’s rich in organic matter is also ideal for all three plants.
- Sunny Location: Even though they all grow underground, onions, shallots, and garlic all need a sunny location to thrive. A spot that receives at least 6 hours of full sun per day is an ideal growing site for these tasty bulbs.
- Water: Garlic’s the most easy-going when it comes to water, not being too fussy about consistent soil moisture. Shallots, on the other hand, prefer consistently moist soil throughout the growing season, while onions fall somewhere in between the two, needing around 1 inch of water per week once matured to remain happy and healthy.
When to Plant Onions, Shallots, and Garlic in Pennsylvania
The main difference between growing these species is their planting times. Here’s how you should plan out your onion, garlic, and shallot crops this season:
- Onions: As a cool-season vegetable, onions grow best in the spring, and mature in about 90-125 days from seeds or in around 80 days from seedlings or plugs. Planting onion plugs in the early spring means you’ll be able to enjoy your first harvest by the beginning of summer.
- Garlic: Like other bulbs, garlic’s traditionally planted in the fall before the first frost. This gives the roots time to expand underground in the late fall, so the shoots can quickly sprout the following spring. The mature bulbs will then be ready to harvest in the summer. It’s also possible to plant garlic in the early spring, but you’ll need to give the bulbs a cold treatment first to break them out of their dormancy.
- Shallots: With a longer growing time than onions (90 to 120 days), shallots can be planted in the early spring or in the late fall with your garlic.
When to Harvest Onions, Shallots, and Garlic
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Onions, shallots, and garlic each have particular signs that tell you when their bulbs are mature and ready to harvest. Onions, for instance, are ready to harvest when about half of the plant stems fall over. Shallots and garlic, on the other hand, are ready when the majority of the leaves turn brown. When this happens, dig up a few to see if the bulbs are mature. If they’re ready, you can either eat them fresh from the garden, or cure and store them for later use. Here’s how:
- Fresh Eating: You can eat onion, shallot, and garlic bulbs fresh from the garden for a delicious summer or fall treat. You can store some in the refrigerator, but in most cases, you’ll want to harvest and cure the others, which allows them to store for several months.
- Curing: Once you dig your bulbs from the ground, keep the leaves attached and brush off excess dirt. Tie the stems in bundles and hang them in a dry, shady spot outside to cure for several days. Onions can also be cured on the ground in dry weather.
- Storage: Once your bulbs have dried, cut the tops off and store them in mesh bags in a cool, dark place inside, away from stored fruit and potatoes.
How to Harvest Green Onions, Green Shallots, and Garlic Scapes
The green onions you see at the supermarket are simply regular onions that have yet to mature into a full bulb. If you like green onions or are short on growing time, feel free to harvest some of your onions at this stage, which can be as early as six weeks after planting. Similarly, shallots can be enjoyed in an immature, green phase after just 30 to 60 days of growing time. Garlic also offers an early treat in the form of garlic scapes, the curled, green flower shoots at the top of the bulb. Garlic scapes are ready to harvest once they coil twice in a circle.
Considering how easy they are to grow, the bold flavors of homegrown onions, shallots, and garlic are well worth the effort. For supplies and more advice on growing your own onions and other alliums, stop by and visit our garden center in Glenside, PA, today!
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