As a big lover of all the members of the allium family, I have two full beds on the allotment crop rotation dedicated to them. Half of this bed is producing a fine crop of garlic that will be ready in a month or so and will see me through until next spring. The other half is red onions, grown from sets planted in March. They’re beginning to fill out now, but unfortunately, several of them have begun to bolt, in other words, producing flower heads prematurely - you can see the little yellow buds on the ends of the stalks on at least two in the picture.
I’ve nipped out the buds but they still won’t produce full size onions now. Also, these bolted ones won’t keep very well at all, so I’ll lift them and eat them while the tops are still green, as they do in Spain. Red onions are more prone to this than white onions and I think the spells of very warm, dry weather in March and April are to blame as the onions are now a bit confused as it what season it is. I often have this trouble with red onions but am very partial to them, and love eating them raw in salads so I’ll persevere, and try to remember to water them a bit more next year.
