Cindy Day: Winter forecast is not worth crying over

Originally published Oct. 6

When asked, many people claim fall is their favourite season. I sometimes joke that it’s a difficult time for meteorologists: it’s too cool to scare people with humidex and too warm to scare them with wind chill.

All joking aside, fall can be fabulous across Atlantic Canada! By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, the deciduous trees are ablaze with colour, we’ve traded in our flip flops for fall frocks and it’s time to dig up the garden.

Mom always had a lovely vegetable garden. I have such fond memories of being handed the big yellow garden bucket and heading out to harvest the last of the veggies. I always looked forward to taking in the winter onions. Once the produce was sorted and put away, one onion was left on the cutting board. Grandma would reach for her favourite knife and after just one slice through the root vegetable, she proceeded with her winter prognostication.

According to folklore, “onion skins very thin, mild winter coming in; onion skins thick and tough coming winter will be cold and rough.”

The belief that onions could help predict the weather comes from the Gauls, who observed that many layers of thick skin signalled the coming of a harsh winter. Some would argue it’s nature’s way of preparing for the winter ahead. Scientifically, this one is difficult to explain. But who are we to question an observation that goes back to 300 BC?

I often wondered if this saying was Grandma’s way of getting us excited about eating onions. The next time you head off to your local farmers’ market with the kids, pick up some onions. When you get home slice into them and note the thickness of the skin. The kids can write down the findings on a calendar and you can verify results in the spring.

You have nothing to lose and you might end up with a nice big pot of French onion soup.