Walla walla onions.

[carolinej]

I have a pack of walla walla onions from The Organic Seed Catalogue. It says to plant them outside in March. Do you think this is a little late? I am tempted to put some in pots indoors now, to see how they go. What do you all think?

thanks

cj :)

[carolinej]

[agapanthus]

I think I would plant some indoors....got nothing to lose....go for it :)

[Jeannine]

Hi Caroline, I have grown a lot of Walla Walla onions. You can plant them as you would any other spring planting  onions but their best way is to plant them in August as they are better as an overwintering onion. They are very mild,sweet enough to eat raw ,bear in mind if you are spring planting them they are not good keepers. In the shops in the USA they come and go very quickly, one of my personal favourites. I shall be doing mine in August, They come from an area not far from where I lived in North America and are very close to my heart.XX Jeannine

[carolinej]

Thanks for the advice.

Agapanthus, I'll probably try a few now.

Jeannine, looks like it wil be best for me to plant most of them in August then. Do you think they will cope with a wet Welsh winter?

I bought them, as I was really tempted by the claim that you can eat them raw. I love onion ;D

cj :)

[Deb P]

Oh no, another interesting sounding onion; have I got any room left! I am a total sucker for other peoples recommendations when they have grown a variety that has performed well! ;D

Jeannine I have already looked up your previous recommendations for tomatoes and corn which also sound very interesting; couldn't find the cauliflower you mentioned in the uk, I guess you have seed sent from the US?

[Jeannine]

Hi Caroline, I have to be honest and say I have never grown them since I got back from North America, this will be the first year but I am going to have a go.I am in East Yorkshire on the coast so I would think you might stand a better chance than I. Good experiment don't you think?
Just an interesting point, over there the Walla Walla is considered a super fresh eating onion but a great many folk think it cannot be grown as well outside of the Walla Walla area, it is in a warm pocket with particularly good soil. I have to be truthful and say I have munched a genuine Walla Walla and found it very mild. mine were a wee bit hotter,but they do change depending on which time of the year they are planted.

Debs, the cauli I mentioned did come from Canada, I had it sent over from West Coast seeds.their ad does say they don't send to the Uk anymore but I am going to try for something else anyway. I did buy a big packet last year and can spare you a few if you would like to try them. on  my pea patch(what I call my lottie) I have  heard folks say the soil won't grow good cauli. I had tried for a couple of years and I have to admit I couldn't but I put that down to me not spending as much time as I should there. I sent for these seeds along with an early one and grew two, the Shasta was super, the other one was not. It needs more space than one would normally plant. I don't consider myself to be a good gardener beyond my specials but these were very easy to grow and they froze well.

Let me know if you would like a few, just looked in my packet which was big and it is OK. XX Jeannie

[Jeannine]

Hi Caroline, after having a think, I am going to do my Walla Wallas both ways just in case it gets too cold here for the over wintered ones.I am going to start the seeds indoors today.They will bolt if it gets too cold, and East Yorkshire sure is not the Walla Walla valley in Washington.

There is some interesting history about them at Locali Farms in Walla Walla if you are interested.

As another interesting point by the way, they have about 50% less sulphar than regular onions which accounts for their sweetness.

XX Jeannine

[carolinej]

hello Jeannine

just looked the onions up on the internet. It's quite an interesting story. It's a pitty seed catalogues didnt carry a bit of basic history on some of the more interesting seeds. Thanks for your advice. Off to plant some of my WW seeds now, in my new propagator ;D

cj :)

[Jeannine]

I've just done the same, keep in touch.
By the way I do have more than I need if anyone wants a few XX Jeannine

[Deb P]

Thanks Jeannine, pm'd you about the caulis thank you, but wouldn't mind trying a few of the onions too if you have any spare please!

[Jeannine]

No probs.XX Jeannine

[Gillysdad]

Hi Caroline, I have grown a lot of Walla Walla onions. You can plant them as you would any other spring planting  onions but their best way is to plant them in August as they are better as an overwintering onion. They are very mild,sweet enough to eat raw ,bear in mind if you are spring planting them they are not good keepers. In the shops in the USA they come and go very quickly, one of my personal favourites. I shall be doing mine in August, They come from an area not far from where I lived in North America and are very close to my heart.XX Jeannine

That's something else that I've learned. Thanks Jeannine. :)