Old onions growing

[meandmine]

I got my allotment at the end of November and it needed (still needs!) a lot of work clearing it because it was very overgrown and had a lot of junk in it.
Anyway, there was a patch that had had onions planted in it but obviously they had gone to mush in the ground.  I haven't got round to clearing them all out yet but the ones that are still there have sprouted some lovely green shoots and when I pulled one up it was like it was growing four unions out of the bottom but they're all squashed together.
What I want to ask is shall I just pull them all up and throw them away or would it be possible to split them up, replant them and see what happens?
I hope all of that makes sense and I'm sorry if it's a really stupid question (and there'll probably be plenty more stupid questions in time to come lol) but I've never grown anything at all except weeds (and they were really easy to grow!).
Thanks for reading.
Sharon

[meandmine]

[kenkew]

Onion sets are cheap to buy. I wouldn't waste ground on a chance some from last year will give you a return. Chances are they will either bolt early or like you have already seen, will already have attempted to produce bulblets.
Get 'em out and start afresh, MM.

[meandmine]

Thanks for that Kenkew, I'll get rid of them next time I go over  :)

[manicscousers]

chop the fresh growth up and eat it  ;D

[Vortex]

Alternatively you could always leave a few let them bolt and then collect the seed to grow next year - then you won't need to buy any/as much.

[Robert_Brenchley]

You could use them as spring onions.

[antipodes]

I feel that I have the same philosophy as robert brenchley! If it grows, scoff it  ;D I too would let it grow for a bit and see what happens, at worst you will be able to eat the new growth!! Of course if you want to use that patch, dig em up, but I find that all these oniony things are hard to kill, you might find that you can dig them up, chuck them in a hole in a corner and they will grow anyway. Spring onions, mmm lovely...

[meandmine]

Thanks for all the advice  :)
I went to the lottie to have another look at the onions and to have another think about what to do with them but I couldn't make up my mind what to do in the end so I've just left them there for the time being.
While I was looking at the onions I found some chives mixed in with the weeds that were surrounding them so that was good  ;D
And my son also found what he thought was a dead frog (he screamed like a girl when it jumped and he realised it was alive lol).
Thanks again.
Sharon

[Toadspawn]

Are they onions or shallots?
If they are onions there is usually one bulb at the base  and this will produce one shoot. It will eventually run to seed because they flower in the second year. I would let them grow and eat the shoots green in stir-fries or salads.
However, shallots will always produce several shoots from one bulb and each will develop into a new bulb and form a cluster. These can be eaten young as spring onions or left to mature to harvest in July. They can be pickled but are very good roasted because they have a milder flavour than many onions.