Tasty garden bulbs for zesty kitchen flavour
THE Asian cuisine cannot work without the uniquely flavoured bulbs that offer a range of fragrant pungency.
And onions can provide what garlic cannot.
Most of us are familiar with edible bulbs with a strong smell. They are a favourite among most chefs.
Growing these bulbs needs patience as they are seldom seen to sprout flowers.
Egyptian “walking onions” are a perennial variety that flowers with a clump of tiny bulbs or bulbils on top of the stalk. As the heavy top falls, new plants grow up, thus, the name walking onions.
There are several onion species, grown mainly in drier regions, and our tropical climate with plentiful rainfall makes it less suitable for the development of the bulbs after a period of three months.
However, we can use the bulbs to produce the onion leaves which are faster and easier to grow for home gardens.
Various onion species are grown in different seasons of the year. These are the early varieties — such as Herter River Brown — which are large with papery brown skin and white firm flesh with median pungency.
They take over 120 days to harvest. The miniature onions are called pipettes, grown in middle of the year in temperate regions. There are also the late maturing White Imperial or ��panish varieties which are round bulbs with brown to purple skin and dark coloured flesh with mild favour.
Here, we’re all familiar with the many onion varieties, mostly imported from China and India. Home consumption Onions are grown from seeds, sets (tiny bulbs) or seedlings. The most popular growing method is using onion sets. But don’t use sets which are already sprouting. Those about the size of marbles will do and they must be firm and healthy looking. ��eedlings mature a few weeks earlier than seeds.
Onions grown in warm areas are sweeter than those from cold regions. For handy kitchen use, we can also get the leaves from growing bulbs.
��mall purple seeds, bought from the market, can be grown and
eaten mainly as fried toppings for noodle and fish dishes.
These seeds are best sown direct in pots with ready rich soil or compost. For commercial production, the seeds will be planted in beds.
My neighbour used to sell onion leaves, ready packed for a good return. They are cut or simply pulled out of the beds with root attached for the wet market. However, home gardening needs to take care of growing onions to ensure just enough water is used for healthy and glossy leaves. Secrets of success Buy only firm and fresh tiny bulbs with smooth skin. Avoid onion sets which feel soft or those which are soft with black spots on the skin which a sign of impending fungal damage to the seeds.
The plants are to be sited in an area with direct sunlight. Avoid any sites where the leaves are shaded.
Onions need well-drained soil which can be enriched with compost and natural fertilisers to produce bigger bulbs.
As onion food reserves start to concentrate in the base of the leaves, the bulb gets bigger until the leaves turn yellow and die. This is a sign that the bulb has matured and ready for harvest. Field planting Choose the right location and dig a bed 60cm deep. Remove all roots, break up the soil clumps and cover them with a 15cm thick layer of compost.
Plant the seedlings 5cm apart and not too deep in the bed. The best is just below the surface to anchor the bulb in position lest the bulb gets fully exposed after heavy rain.
Thin the planting as the vegetable grows and use liquid fertilisers once a month. In the meantime, water well if there is no rain.
For better rainfall control, it’s better to grow the seedlings in a greenhouse or canopied shade but make sure there is enough sunlight.
We can harvest as soon as the leaves are mature but not until they are too old or turn hard.
Problems of pests or diseases include rotting in damp soil. Examples — neck or stem rot and bulb sot. Thrips are small flying insects that feed on leaves and cause twisting and curling. Use insecticidal soaps for good control. Storing onions We all have experienced buying onions that were not properly handled, causing the bulbs to rot and give out a foul smell in the kitchen.
��ome bought from the market have already been X-rayed for quarantine purposes, primarily to prevent harmful bugs from being imported.
The treatment or quarantine against pathogen is not compulsory.