Egyptian onions... again...

I knew I had posted about these before, and I had... 2 years ago, in this post...

These are Allium cepa var. proliferum. AKA Egyptian onion, Walking Onion, Tree Onion or Winter Onion...

As you can see in the pic, the Egyptian onion reproduces by forming bulbs at the top of a stalk that can be 3 feet tall, but is more typically 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall...
here's a close-up of the "sets" or "bulbils" these are about 3/4 of an inch wide, the largest are about an inch wide... The larger sets will produce even smaller sets of their own...

as seen in this pic...

and sometimes the stalk will produce sets, then a secondary stalk that has no connection with a bulbil at all, which produces small tiny sets.

Now, if you check with the garden writers, they'll start gushing about how unique and unusual these plants are... not really. Texas has quite a few different wild onion and garlic varieties. And I'd say at least half 'top-set' although usually not so dramatically, producing small balls of 1/4 to 1/2 inch bulbils that are white, lavendar or deep shining purple... actually, several of them are very decorative, and I've been thinking of grabbing some of the sets and sticking them in the yard...

I find these fascinating... I can't exactly claim they're decorative in the garden, but they are interesting. And I've certainly seen less attractive plants planted in borders... here's how I use them in the yard:

At about this time of year, the larger sets are pulled off. Any secondary sets are removed, and the larger sets are placed in the garden with a good layer of mulch over them. They will quickly grow to a large enough size to use as scallions. Very strong scallions... these are not subtly flavored plants. Most people say they taste like strong onion with a definite overtone of garlic. I like them though...

I've heard of people peeling the larger sets and pickling them for 'cocktail onions' and I have no reason to believe you couldn't. It just sounds like too much trouble and I've never tried it.

You can also just give them a quick chop, or crush them under a knife blade like you would garlic and cook with them...

The smaller secondary sets are usually either planted for more plants next year, or given away to anybody who wants to start some of their own... Anybody interested? Just give me an address in the comment section to send them, (the comments are moderated, so I won't publicise it) and I'll be glad to send an envelope full... but don't expect any topsetting until next spring.

There are several web-sites dedicated to them, and selling them, that give lots of info on how to grow them. Evidently they're winter hardy all the way up to zone 3, and down to 9, not really in 10, as they need a little winter to grow properly... and in 8 and 9 you might be able to eat them all winter.

Egyptian Onions

Well, the pics are a little fuzzy (I think the battery in the camera was low, it has a problem focusing when it's tired. But then so do I... ) The Egyptian Onion, aka: Walking Onion, Winter Onion or Tree Onion, is a great edible oddity in the garden...

I grow these around the Crepe Myrtle in the front yard. In the summer, Crepe Myrtles in this area are attacked by small, almost unseeable insects which leave the foliage covered by a sticky sap... which then becomes covered with dust and debris which stick to it. There are several insecticides that you pretty much have to spray every two weeks, but I heard that planting an onion under the bush will 'flavor' the shrubs sap and keep the bugs off. Since the bush was in the front yard, I decided that the Egyptian onions were odd enough to be interesting... they've been there two years, and no sticky, icky leaves... As to them flavoring the crepe myrtles sap... I have no idea, as I have never tasted a crepe myrtle leaf to find out, and I have no intention to do so in the future.

The onions grow long stalks that sprout miniature onion bulbs, which then can sprout even smaller onion bulbs on the end of their leaves, as is happening in the top pic... Now the parent plant tends to be too tough to eat as scallions, but if you pull the bulbils apart and plant them, in a few weeks, they'll be nice tender scallions for cooking or salads. Also, the small bulbs are sometimes taken off, allowed to dry and the leaves die back, then pickled. I've never done that, as I like scallions too much.

Left on the plant, the stems will bend over, and the bulbils will sprout where they touch the ground... about 2 or 3 feet away. Hence the name walking onions, as they seem to be walking across the yard...

The real reason I got these though, is that I remember almost every house in the neighborhood had these when I was a kid... Strange how some things stick with you. I also have a fondness for sunflowers and hollyhocks by wooden fences, for the same reason. (but only the single hollyhocks, the double pom-pom ones just don't look right to me.)