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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] sweet onion questions

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  • From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
  • To: <ksutherland AT hampshire.edu>, "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] sweet onion questions
  • Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 09:04:25 -0500

Granex and Grano are short-day onions, so they, like the Vidalias, should be nearing maturity now. Curing them will improve their storage potential, though I don't think that storage potential is very high for those types. We cure all bulb onions by undercutting them (separating them from their roots) and letting them sit for several days. Hopefully these will be dry days. We handle them as little as possible until they are cured, which consists of drying the outside layers and toughening them just enough to prevent damage from handing. Usually 4-5 days is sufficient. On the other hand, some folks like to market bulb onions green by bunching a few together or selling them singly. They really look good with their green tops.
 
I haven't worked with short-day onions  but with other types the curing does have a modest effect on flavor, neither deleterious or beneficial in my mind. Just slightly different.
 
Bill Shoemaker
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center
More than a week here without rain under fierce tropical sun and my granex and grano onions’ greens are starting to tip burn and fall over even though the bulbs are not yet full size.  I had thought granex and grano were supposed to not be sensitive to day length, but I see that last year they (grano only last year) finished at the same time even though they were planted a month earlier and not water stressed.  (Actually I find that the granex is quicker to bulb and quicker for the tops to bend than the grano.)

 

My question: Does the curing period for onions affect the sweetness or flavor of the onion or is it merely for better storage characteristics?  I am basically wondering if it’s OK to market these immediately or whether they should be “cured” for a period first.  I do not expect these to be stored for any serious period of time.

 

Thank you all.

 

Best wishes,

 

Karen Sutherland

Roots Farm

Organic Produce

Fruits, Roots, Vegetables & Herbs

Cockrane, Dominica

 




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