One of the best things about this time of year is harvesting so many great crops in the garden - this week we have lots of beautiful farm-grown onions and shallots.
The onion, Allium cepa, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Onions are hardy, easy to grow, and can be grown in a variety of soils and climates. We plant a lot of onions every year. I use them in my cooking, and in sandwiches and salads. I also share many of them with my daughter, Alexis, and my grandchildren, Jude and Truman. Earlier this week, my gardener, Ryan McCallister, picked the onions from my new garden here at the farm and they are truly some of the best we've ever grown.
Enjoy these photos.
Such a bounty of gorgeous fresh onions – it’s one of our favorite crops to pick.
Here at the farm, our onions are started from seed in the greenhouse and then planted outdoors in the garden bed.
Here is what one of our onion plants looked like in late April just before planting it in the ground.
This year, we planted two large beds for red onions, white onions, yellow and brown onions.
And here they are in May – just one month after planting. The onion, Allium cepa, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. They are planted in spring when temperatures are still a bit cool. Early planting gives the onions time to develop tops and store energy for the bulbs.
In June, the plants are much more developed and the leaves are quite tall, bright green, and sturdy.
By July, the onions are starting to show through the soil, but they are still small and the top leaves are still very green.
Looking down, this is one of the growing onions.
Onions require 90 to 100 days to mature from seed, which is around four months. From sets, onions are ready to harvest after around 80 days, or just under three months. We picked a few onions for my summer vacation in Maine.
This week, the tops of the onion plants have fallen over naturally – an indication they are fully mature and ready to harvest.
Here, the onion leaves are also quite brown and dry. This happens at the “neck” of the onion, where the leaves meet the bulb, and signals that the plant has stopped growing.
Here’s Ryan after picking one of our largest onions. To pick, he carefully loosens the surrounding soil and then gently pulls the onion up by its top. It’s important to keep the stem intact to prevent the possibility of rot.
All these onions are in great condition. Ryan also keeps track of the varieties that grew well, so we know what kinds to grow again next season.
The red onions were also picked.
As well as the shallots. Shallots, Allium ascalonicum, are a member of the allium family, closely related to onions, garlic, and chives.
Shallots are smaller than onions, their skin is papery and coppery-pink, the flesh is pale purple and white, and the bulbs grow in clusters, similar to cloves of garlic.
Once all the onions and shallots are picked, Ryan brings them into the hoop house closest to my main greenhouse where they can cure. Curing is a process of preparing the onions for long-term storage. During the curing stage, the outer layers of the onions dry out, tightening around the bulb and creating a protective layer that keeps the onion firm and fresh for a longer time.
Some of the red onions had already been curing for a couple of weeks. Ryan removes the top layer of skin from the onion and clips the tops and roots.
The shiny skin should remain. He also lightly brushes off any loose soil before placing in a single layer on the shelf where they can continue to cure.
The onions need plenty of space for air to circulate, and can even be turned occasionally to make sure they dry evenly. Our greenhouse shelves are metal and have air circulating through, so this environment is Ideal. It is also warm in this hoop house – 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, dry, and out of the sun.
Ryan is careful when handling the onions, so they don’t bruise.
When cured and stored properly, a good storage onion will retain its eating quality for 10 to 12 months. I can’t wait to try them. How did your onions do this year?
Whenever I go hiking at Skylands, my home in Maine, or in the woodlands of my Bedford, New York farm, I always enjoy discovering and identifying all the different types of wild mushrooms that may be growing along the way.
A mushroom is the fleshy spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus. Fungus thrives in moist areas and loves growing on decaying wood. While many may try to eradicate mushrooms from their lawns, they are an important part of the forest ecosystem. Because they live off of decaying plant matter, fungus breaks down and disposes of fallen tree branches, leaves, and even animals. It also digests rock particles and other organic matter in the soil, so new plants can grow. Earlier this year, I received mushroom growing kits from 2FUNGUYS - an Atlanta, Georgia company that sells mushroom growing spawn plugs, inoculated logs, and complete starter growing kits. The process of growing mushrooms is very interesting, and very different from growing other crops, so I decided to grow some here at the farm.
Enjoy these photos and remember, never eat any mushroom you cannot clearly identify.
One way to grow one’s own mushrooms is to inoculate logs with mushroom plugs. Last March, Pete from my outdoor grounds crew went into the woodland for just the right trees. I hate to take down any trees, but he only looked for those that were growing too close to other more robust trees, those that were not growing well, or trees that were broken and needed to be removed. The best kind of wood to use for mushrooms is deciduous hardwood, such as oak, beech, willow, birch, elm, and poplar.
The logs used should also be the right size – four to 10 inches in diameter…
… and about two to five feet long. Pete cut them all to the same size.
The best time to cut the fresh logs is during the fall or winter, when their leaves have fallen and their sugar concentration is highest. After they are cut, they are left to rest for a few weeks.
The logs are then brought to an area tucked behind some trees and stacked securely for mushroom growing. It’s important that the logs used are clean and free of rot. These are stacked in a loose crib formation.
Some of the logs were also “planted” upright, another way to stack logs for mushrooms. Pete is digging the hole for the upright logs. Logs can also be stacked in a loose lean-to or upright A-frame structure.
Pete dug holes for six upright logs.
Here is our mushroom garden. On average, a mushroom log will produce for one year per inch of diameter of the log. Hopefully these will be very productive.
Our mushroom spawn plugs came in kits – one for oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms; lion’s mane mushrooms, Hericium erinaceus, those big, white mushrooms from the tooth fungus family that grow on woody tree trunks; and, shiitake mushrooms, Lentinus edodes, another popular mushroom renowned for its unique and savory flavor.
Each kit contains a hundred mushroom spawn plugs, an appropriate sized drill bit, tags, daubers, wax, and a complete instruction card.
Ryan starts by melting the wax. The wax will be used for sealing the plug into the log.
Once it is melted down, it is brought to the mushroom log site.
Meanwhile, Brian drills the holes in the logs. Using a 5/16-inch bit, he drills holes two-inches from one end of the log, spacing them several inches apart until he has reached the opposite end.
He does this on all the upright logs as well as those positioned horizontally.
This is what the log looks like after it is drilled – holes are around the entire girth of each log.
The holes should be about an inch and a quarter deep – deep enough for the mushroom plug to fit flush inside the hole.
These are organic mushroom plugs – each filled with pure mushroom mycelium.
Ryan takes each plug and inserts it into the hole and using a mallet, taps it until the plug is flush.
The plug should be very snug.
Next, using the dauber dipped into the melted wax, Ryan dabs the plug until it is completely covered and sealed.
This is a well covered spawn plug. It is important to make sure the inoculated logs are also well-watered twice per week to maintain the moisture levels. Mycelium are living organisms, so if the logs completely dry out, the mycelium will die. Our log stacks will be kept uncovered, where they are exposed and have access to rainwater.
Here is a log all done. We should have our first fruiting in about nine to 12 months – I can’t wait. If you’re looking for a wonderful family project, consider growing mushrooms. And go to the 2FUNGUYS.com for more information.
Here at the farm, the sunflowers are in bloom with their big daisy-like faces and brightly colored petals - it's always a very welcomed sight.
If you recall, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted our sunflowers, Helianthus, in late June. They were planted in the center bed of my new vegetable garden. Sunflowers are the popular and cheerful annuals whose giant, round flower heads look like the sun. They come in vibrant yellow, but they're also seen in various shades of orange, red, bronze, and even white.
Enjoy these photos.
In late June, when we were still planting our first crops in the new vegetable garden, Ryan and I decided it would be nice to plant the sunflowers in this long center bed. We knew they would grow excellently here, but also provide a lovely selection of giant flowers for all to see.
For planting the large sunflower seeds, Ryan used this rolling dibbler available at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It comes in single form like this one or with multiple wheels. It allows one to create evenly spaced impressions in the soil for accurate transplanting.
Sunflower seeds are normally black with white stripes and approximately five eighths of an inch long. The heavy hull accounts for approximately half the weight of the seed and is loosely fixed around the kernel inside.
Ryan planted one seed into each hole. Sunflowers grow quickly. Many can grow 12 feet in only three months. With the proper growing conditions, sunflowers should reach maturity in 70 to 100 days after planting.
Here is one just beginning to open.
And now, many of the flowers are in full bloom. Sunflowers commonly bloom during summer and a portion of fall.
Young sunflowers turn to face the sun as it moves across the sky. They face east at dawn and then slowly turn west as the sun moves. During the night, they slowly turn back east to begin the cycle again. This is known as heliotropism and is due to the presence of auxin, a growth hormone in the stem. This process continues until the sunflower is mature.
Sunflower is the only flower with flower in its name. “Helia” for sun and “anthus” for flower. Sunflowers are also the symbol of faith, loyalty and adoration. Sunflowers have different colored petals, but their centers also vary in different shades. The center of this sunflower is a light colored yellow and green.
Sunflowers are among the most popular of annuals. They have grown even more popular in the last couple of years because of the support for Ukraine. The sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower. It is also the state flower of Kansas here in the US.
We planted many classic yellow sunflowers as well as the more unusual bronze to red colored sunflowers. All of them look so pretty in the garden.
This bright yellow sunflower has long thin petals and a smaller center than other varieties.
Sunflowers produce a huge amount of pollen and nectar making so many pollinators very happy. Pollen from sunflowers has been found to boost the immune systems of both bumbles bees and honey bees.
Each sunflower is actually thousands of tiny flowers. The center of the sunflower is filled with disc florets, the flowers in the middle that contain male and female reproductive organs and mature into fruit and seed.
Around the disc florets are the ray florets or the sterile florets on the outside. Each sunflower can contain as many as 1,000 to 2,000 seeds.
The sunflower’s leaves are large, arranged alternately along the stem when mature. They have serrated margins, and are triangular to heart-shaped and can grow up to 12 inches in length.
A common sunflower stem is sturdy and covered in coarse hairs. Sunflowers also have long tap roots that need to stretch out, so the plants prefer well-dug, loose, well-draining soil.
Here are three mature sunflowers all facing east. They often face the rising sun because increased morning warmth attracts more bees and helps the plants reproduce more efficiently.
Tall sunflower varieties can usually grow up to 15 feet tall. The height of a sunflowers depends on its variety. Some dwarf sunflowers only grow to be about three feet tall and the tallest recorded sunflower was more than 30 feet.
One can plant annual sunflowers in almost every plant hardiness zone as long as it is in full sun. Sunflowers usually stay in bloom for about three weeks, sometimes even four. In this garden, with its nutrient-rich soil, I’m hoping these pretty flowers last even longer… we’ll see.
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