you can clean/ them with 1:10 ratio bleach:water, to kill any bacteria/mold, dry them being careful not to break the skin, you can then store them in a dry dark area for a few months.

I have one row of Egyptian onions in my garden. The row has been there for 5 years. I don't want them walking, so I take all the bulb-lets off in the fall and store them in my basement. Two week ago I potted the clusters up into 5 inch pots, covering with 2 inches of pro-mix. The bulb-lets had already started to sprout about 1/2 inch. They are outside now in zone 5. They will be about 6 inches tall when I take them to the Farmer's Market May 1st. Many of them have 6-8 bulb on each. I don't separate them. Wish I knew how to post a picture. Please don't try to explain how, I'll never get it.

PM2, years ago I started onions via wintersowing. If I recall, the onions when harvested were on the small side. But as usual, I have to add this disclaimer - I am a VERY neglectful gardener! They were most likely planted out too late and harvested too early, lol! And probably sorely neglected in between! If you have the seed, I would say go ahead and WS it and see how you fare. I will add, though, that last year a co-worker offered me onion sets which her husband had leftover. I had never even seen an onion set, and when I saw that they were just tiny little pips, I was skeptical but planted them (and I thought she was going to give me half a dozen or so but there were almost FIFTY in the bottom of the box! How many did he order if he had 50 leftover?). Well, they were so easy to plant, and grew so well, that I think that is the way to go from now on, at least for me. Granted, these little guys got a bit better treatment than my poor seeds, but I still think it's easier to go this route. I just don't know if there is the variety available in sets that there is in seed, but I guess I'll find out if I ever get off my butt and get my order in! dawiff, nice onions! I'm glad to see that photo, as we were unsure as exactly when to harvest ours. They popped up out of the ground and my husband was picking them quickly (while they were still small), while my opinion was that as long as the roots were still well-embedded we should leave them to get bigger. Your photo seems to confirm my thoughts. And you have a lovely property as well! Thanks!

Generally, they will grow back if you cut them many times. They are tough plants. If you want to eat some, cut what you need. Generally new growth is better to use, old leaves not very good. Spring leaves are best, but you can cut them down to start new growth after Spring. You don't need to cut them if you are not going to eat them. They all will grow back stronger next spring, unless you went crazy and mowed them down every week. Common chives flower in Spring, plants often look unsightly in Summer so you can cut them down. Garlic chives flower later in later Summer. Garlic chives are kind of floppy, the thicker leaved types probably are less floppy and look a bit better.