Spring Onions
Last year 2018 I decided to try once again to grow spring onions having tried many times before but failed miserably I rembered in season 2017 I had planted a variety of spring onion called Senshyu Yellow I only planted one row but they over wintered very well and tasted excellent
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Origions of onion Senshyu Yellow
Introduced from Japan in the early 70's for harvesting before the traditional spring sown bulbing varieties are ready. ‘Senshyu Yellow Globe’ was one of the first Japanese overwintering varieties to be tried and tested. Today it remains a growers favourite for surviving the winter well.
Hardy to around minus 18°C (0°F), this reliable maincrop produced heavy yields of semi-globe shaped bulbs with straw coloured skins and crisp white flesh. Growing to a height of around 45cm (18in) and a spread of 15cm (6in), it matures June to July from an August sowing. Giving onions of usable size before spring sown maincrops varieties are ready.
Overwintered onions are in the ground a lot longer than their summer counterparts - roughly 300 days. Because of this, they have more time to develop a vigorous root system, which means they grow more strongly on heavy soils. In addition, overwintering types do most of their growing during spring, when soil moisture is plentiful. They mature and dry down in early summer when the days are at their longest. All these factors add up getting larger onions with less effort.
Since these onions are ready to harvest between June and early July, the, usually dry weather we receive then is much more conducive to good curing. The newer varieties of overwintering onions will easily keep well into autumn if cured properly. So, you can have onions available year-round without too much effort.
Onion 'Senshyu Yellow' is recommended by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany