The Greedy Gardener

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.

Planting red onion sets. Sets are the easiest way to grow onions - they’re little tiny onions that you plant straight into the ground. There are various ways you can space them; I have gone for rows about 9-10 inches apart to give enough space to hoe in between them, planted about 3 inches apart along the row. Plant them so that the pointed tops are just below the surface and cover with fine mesh as I have here to keep off pests if you’re in an area affected by allium leaf miner. This bed is shared with the shoots of the garlic I planted in November showing through in the back rows.

The garlic I planted last November is beginning to put up shoots and I’m about to plant some red onion sets in the rest of the bed, so I’ve rigged up some protection against the dreaded allium leaf miner that devastated almost everyone’s onions on the allotments last year. This recently introduced pest is now widespread across the West Midlands, affecting everything in the allium family including onions, leeks and garlic.

Having successfully kept the creatures off the leeks in the garden last year with fine mesh, I’m consolidating my allium crops onto two beds on the allotment. I’ve bought some blue water pipe from a DIY centre to make hoops and covered them with a sheet of fine mesh to rig up this protective tunnel, fixing the edges down with tent pegs. It could do with another set of hoops for stability but will do for now.

The stuff to build the tunnel isn’t cheap, but if you buy decent mesh, it’s meant to last up to 10 years before the UV breaks it down. I’ve one at home I’ve used for three years and it’s still fine - a bit grubby now, so it’s currently soaking in a tub of water ready for a delicates cycle in the washing machine. It’s not just for aesthetic purposes - any build up of dirt and algae will reduce the amount of light that gets through to the plants underneath.