Topic: Bunching onions

[bupster]

Got bunching onions through from HDRA's heritage seed catalogue today. What in god's name do I do with them? :o

[amanda21]

Errrrrr.........bunch them??    ;)

[bupster]

Har har har.  :D

They're Welsh onions, to clarify (I have a vague recollection of a vaguely Welsh name). They've sent me three little baby sets, and apparently they don't do all that many of them, so these are very special and I want to get them right. There's very little information on the web.

[amanda21]

:D

Are we looking at normal round kind of onions or spring onion type onions - I have to admit never heard of them before.....but that's not surprising really - I'd never had Butternut Squash until last year!  Such a sheltered life....... ;D

[Larkspur]

Hi Bupster you plant them like onion sets, the recommended distance is 9" apart.
You pull the leaves off and use them like spring onions when they are mature. I have never grown them but I remember my father doing so.

[Larkspur]

Oh, and despite being called Welsh onions they are really Japanese bunching onion ???s??????????? ??? ???

[amanda21]

??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???  Welsh?  Japanese? soooo confused now.......   ;)

[Larkspur]

Thats two of us then ;)

[growmore]

Welsh onions look like big chives.They don't bulb just multiply from bottom  growing in to biggish clumps.They are perennial. .. You can use them 12 months of the year..They  are usually  propagated by splitting a clump and setting the splits out ..I have had them for years and have never known em go to seed..  Do you want a pic of em?? ..cheers ..Jim

[supersprout]

Yes please, post a pic - it really helps to see what one be aspiring to! ::)

[amanda21]

What kind of strength in flavour are they please?  Do you eat them like spring onions ie raw in salads etc or to season or like leeks?  Cheers - I just love the varied advice I get on here! :)

[grawrc]

I used to grow them when the kids were little (in their twenties now). I liked the fact that you could pull the green stalks and then lift the root and use them like shallots, saving back one ot two to repeat the process.  I think they are perannial but I usually left some and lifted some each year. It's so long ago I can't remember taste but think they were comparable to onions/shallots.

[growmore]

Here's some pics i took on Saturday of welsh onions for Super Sprout...
The first  pic is a clump of them ..Second is some broke off from bottom and peeled..
Cheers. Jim

[supersprout]

Thank you growmore, grr I can't seem to see the pics (only the spaces where they should be)  ???

[growmore]

Think there's a prob at the mo with pics.  I seem to have lost lots of folks avatars.will try them again later if they dont show.Cheers ..Jim

[lorna]

I can see pics fine.

[growmore]

Me too ..think it's fixed  :)  Jim

[supersprout]

Yep, can see fine growmore! Thank you, now I know what they should look like  ::) ;D