Thanks to you both! See, I wish I had thought about the rainy season and drying out onions. I honestly did not know they even had to be cured until this spring and figured I'd just *know* when that needed to happen. lol! Yes, the drying, from what I gather, is only for storage, but since I am the only one in my family that eats onions, it may take me about a month to get all of them eaten. The garlic would be used more slowly over the course of a few months. Tom, I can't believe you got 90 onions from 5 containers! I would say I got 20-30 from about a 2x4 foot space (shared with garlic), and they were all pretty small. I did use several as green onions during the spring, though. When do you know the onions are dry? I agree with you on keeping my onions outside. Maybe when it gets cold here (we do get quite a bit of cold here in the hills of zone 8), and for about 5 months of the year I could see keeping them outside or in the garage, but not in the wet, slimy, hot other 6-7 months of the year. Maybe I'll just keep them in the crisper and hope for the best.

well let's see. i had 65 banana squash plants. i did not count the ones i gave away as they ripened. there were 40 squash and if you average 20 pounds a squash and i had one that was 60 pounds. it is not hard to get 800 pounds. squash keep well at 50 degrees so into the unheated basement they go. i give the surplus away. we have 6 families that garden together. i cut a 10-15 pounder into 1/4 and use one 1/4 and frig the others. i try to use it up with in a week. i still have the hubbard, spaghetti and butternut to harvest. yes Virgina banana squash do get that big. it is good i grew that many because all the other gardens did not do as well with there banana's. they did better with the other winter squash and that is good because i have very few butternut. i got the recipe for Jalapeno Escabeche from this wed site but here it is again. Jalapeno Escabeche (Source: adapted from Michael Gokey via Foodie Mama) Makes 3 to 5 pint jars , depending on whether you follow the original recipe (3) or my adaptation (5) 1 lb. jalape or serrano chile peppers, sliced into rounds of desired thickness (may also be left whole--then you may wish to blister their skins in a hot pan with a trace of oil first) 1 medium white or yellow onion, 1/4 inch thickly sliced (I used TWO yellow onions sliced somewhat thinly) 2 medium carrots, peeled and 1/4 inch thickly sliced (I used a whole pound of carrots, peeled and not as thickly sliced) 1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled (I used 2 cracked cloves per pint jar) 3 cups apple cider vinegar (could also use white, but I like the subtle sweetness of cider vinegar here) 3 cups water 2 tablespoons pickling salt 1 tablespoon sugar (I used about 2 teaspoons) 2 bay leaves 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 4-6 sprigs of fresh marjoram or 1/4 teaspoon dried 4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried 20-30 mixed black and red peppercorns (I just used black) *I added 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin, too (would have preferred seeds if I had them) Prepare the pickling brine (you may need to increase the brine by 25% if you follow my version). Add the vinegar, water, salt, dry herbs, and sugar to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the rest of the vegetables. Wash your vegetables well with no soap. Now peel and slice to prepare. Add at least one clove of garlic, 3-4 peppercorns, to each of the sterilized jars. If you are using fresh herbs then, pack one sprig each in each of the jars. Pack the chile vegetable mixture into sterilized jars leaving 1/2" head space. To help reduce bubbles, slowly fill the packed jars slowly with the pickling brine, plucking out the bay leaves. Make sure you use a plastic bubble remover and slide it around the inside of the jar wall. Seal and process the jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Store your pickled en escabeche jalapenos for four weeks in a cool, dark place before serving. Once opened, they can keep well for one to two months in the refrigerator. happy eating Dean

I was thinking the same thing. I actually think they look pretty good. Just because they can be grown in water for a while does not mean they cannot get over saturated when growing in medium. They actually grow different kinds of roots between the two types of culture. Those in the medium need aeration and can definitely drown. Alliums almost all are notorious for needing excellent drainage.

I'm not sure to what to attribute my success with onions. It isn't a special knowledge. For example, I just learned about "water mold," a common and sometimes serious onion disease. It's why even large onion farms are using drip irrigation rather than overhead sprinklers. I use the sprinklers and have some problem with water mold every year. It doesn't damage them all that much. I was briefly reading about planting by the moon the other day. They put onions in the root crop category. Onion bulbs aren't roots. They are the base of the leaves. Onions have plenty of stringy roots. Fertilize them more like corn or lawn grass. Those leaves need to grow to produce good bulbs. Leeks and bunching onions don't form bulbs but need that high N fertilizer, too. My leeks struggle through the summer heat. I will get some fish emulsion on them soon so that they can take advantage of the cooler days ahead to make some growth. All these weeks since they sprouted indoors back about the first week of February. They won't gain baseball bat size in this climate but they really should after all this time. Nothing like leek and potato soup so I'm happy to have them in the garden. Steve