June 28 - Hanging it Up Addendum



Some of you have asked if Walla Walla Sweet onions are good storage onions. They are not a storage onion, and will only keep 3-6 weeks. Following are several ways to keep them.

1. Place Walla Walla sweet onions in the legs of clean, sheer pantyhose. Tie a knot between each onion and cut above the knot when you want to use one. Hang in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area.

2. Place them in the refrigerator, wrapped separately in paper towels or newspaper. This method takes up precious refrigerator space, but can preserve the sweet onions for a longer period of time.

3. Place them on elevated racks or screens, not touching and in a cool place.

4. They can be chopped and dried in the oven. Use the lowest setting and remove from the oven when thoroughly dry but not brown. Store at room temperatures in airtight containers.

5. They can be frozen. Chop and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet in the freezer. When frozen, remove and place in freezer containers or bags and seal. This method allows you to remove the amount you want when you want it. You can freeze whole onions. Peel, wash, core, then drop into a plastic bag. Once frozen, they can be removed like ice cubes.

NOTE: Freezing changes the onions' texture, so frozen onions should be used for cooking only. Whole frozen Walla Wallas can be baked.

6. If stored properly in a cool and well ventilated location, Walla Walla Sweet Onions will stay fresh for 3-6 weeks or they can be frozen for use well into the year.

10 comments:

  1. Before I started reading blogs, I would have never imagined that pantyhose would have so many practical, garden related uses!

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  2. Excellent info! Thanks, Granny.

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  3. Prairie Cat, I buy cheap dollar store panty hose or knee highs and use them to tie up all sorts of things in the garden. I also store my dried flower bulbs, and seed garlic and shallots in them, hanging them in the garden shed until fall planting time.

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    You're welcome, Ribbit. I think I'll be freezing quite a few this year, as well as making sweet onion jelly. Kelly suggested a jam, but while looking at recipes I found the jelly uses practically the same recipe as my hot pepper jelly, so I'm going to try it!

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  4. I agree excellent information. I didn't know that these onions wouldn't store for long periods of time.

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  5. I like to chop and freeze sweet onions and then reserve out a few to use over the 3 to 6 week period for fresh use. The storage onions I grow are the ones I keep for fresh use later in the winter.

    Lots of good options provided in that list.

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  6. Alicia, I'll likely be freezing a lot of mine.

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    Kitsap, I never grow many storage onions, as I haven't room to take them south with me.

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  7. Granny,
    As they cure, will the onions start forming those papery skins that you see on grocery store onions? I'm just wondering what might happen with my shallots, which I am curing now. Their tops don't stand up to begin with, so you can't go by the tops falling over. Basically, the shallot tops were starting to turn brown, and a few had just started to get soft near the bulb, so I decided to pull them. I would like to cure them in the sun, but since it keeps raining, I have them spread out on a table in the garage.

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  8. Eleanor, yes they will. They have to dry until the skins are brown and papery and the stems are completely dry, then you can cut the stems down to about 1", brush the loose dirt off the onions with your hands, then store them. I think you did the correct thing with your shallots. I'd turn them occasionally, unless they are on screens, to make sure all sides dry well. I usually fasten the leaves of several together with rubber bands, and hang them in bunches from some hooks on my patio (under a roof). The rubber bands tighten up on the stems as they dry, where string won't. Try mincing a couple of those shallots and sautéing them in a bit of butter, then toss in some fresh steamed green beans, a bit of salt and pepper, and give them a short stir fry....delicious.

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  9. I've never even heard of a Walla Walla Sweet Onion!

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  10. TIG, you've probably never lived in Walla Walla, and I have!

    They are a very sweet onion grown in Washington.

    Named for the Washington city, these sweet onions originated on the Island of Corsica off the west coast of Italy. The seeds were brought to Walla Walla (Native American for "many waters") in the late 1800s. Law also controls the marketing of Walla Walla Sweet onions, which must be grown in a specified area of the Walla Walla valley to claim the name. This variety is available from June through August.

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