In honor of onion planting time I am posting a story about a time when I didn’t know about onion sets and planted onion seed. Yeah, I was a newbie, but hey we all have to start somewhere.

If you are a newbie and are just learning about onion sets for the first time. Shh, we can keep it just between you and me. Happy onion planting!

If you would rather see it than read it, I got you covered! After I teach you how to braid onions I tell the story. I hope it makes you laugh out loud or at least chuckle a little! Also see where I store my onion harvest. You will never guess where?!

My Newbie Onion Planting Story:

I remember the first season I worked soil at the community garden. An older and more experienced gardener told me it was time to plant onions, IN JANUARY!!!! I thought he was a nut biscuit. That is my family’s gentle way of saying , well, that the person referenced needs a break from life in a padded cell all their own. After a little research I did discover that he was perfectly sane, well as sane as an urban gardener can be. I announced to my family that it was time to plant onions, pulled up my big girl pants, put on my coat and hat and gloves and scarf, earmuffs, boots and knee warmers. I even pilfered some toe warmers from my boy scouts to slip in my boots for good measure. Note to self; Toe warmers and rubber gardening boots is not really a good combination. Think a mix of walking on hot coals and a sauna for your feet. I know you northerners are calling me a sissy, but let me just say that in the Summer in Texas, you would be on your knees begging me for an ice cube and a fan. In fact you would pay HUGE amounts of money for the fore mentioned items. I may be a sissy winter gardener, but I CAN take the heat!

Any hoo, back to onions. I managed to locate some onion seeds and took great care to space them accordingly. However, when I went back to check to see if my onion sprouts were coming up,

I couldn’t help but notice that EVERYONE BUT ME had planted baby onions, NOT SEEDS. I now know that these are called sets and you can conveniently buy them at your garden center or feed store!

Right about the same time I was having my baby onion plant, NOT a seed epiphany ,one of my fellow gardeners sauntered up and commented that it looked like I had my garden bed all ready to plant my onion sets. Without batting an eye, I said “Yes, all ready to plant those onion sets.” While under my breath I muttered “Over achieving,dirty,low down, know it all, master gardener!”

As I trudged home to head out to buy my sets of onions I recalled that a fellow gardener had tried to tell me about my set vs seed error. You have to remember at the community garden there is a wide range of ethnicity and therefore a lot of heavy accents going on there. When my gardening friend saw me planting onion seeds he tried to tell me about onion sets. Our conversation sounded something like this; “You go to store, get all set!” To which I replied, “Yes I went to the garden center and got all set.” Set as in all ready to go, not set as in onions. I wondered at his dogged determination that I would be all set for the gardening season ahead. To which I just as adamantly assured him that I was indeed all set and ready to plant. Later after my onion bulbs were swelling in the ground this same gardener slapped me firmly on the back sending me forward a few steps. He was smiling and saying loudly; “Good, good!! Now you get all set!” The whole exchange is not really the same without his accent, but you get the idea.

After I had purchased these sets(a bunch of about 30 baby onion plants) I came up with an ingenious way of making sure they were planted at the right spacing of 4 inches apart. I placed holes in a cardboard pizza box in a hexagonal pattern to facilitate proper onion spacing. I don’t know where this side of me came from, because I am usually a fly by the seat of your pants, willy nilly planter. I guess after the whole onion debacle, I just wanted to get something right and show those master gardeners that I could plant efficiently if nothing else. A secret and added benefit to gardening at a community garden is that, if you are competitive, it gives you great incentive to garden well! Not a proud statement, but the truth is, everyone there, if they admit it or not, is competing for the best damn gardener ever. No, as you can tell, I am NOT competitive at all. Perish the thought. I am all about encouraging others, unless you have a bed at the community garden right next to mine. Then all bets are off and garden gloves too! Kidding, kind of.

I hope I have given all the newbies a leg up on all those master gardeners out there, at least where onions are concerned. Happy gardening, IN JANUARY! May the best gardener win! Dash