Apart from the fact that I am still devilishly good looking, these were my first two harvested onions at 19" circumference from last night. I was hoping to enter a jolly decent set in the 1.5kg class and Dan Unsworth (proof that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.....God made him as ugly as I am gorgeous) told me I should get them up at 18.5" or else they would be over that weight. Rather than take the advice of someone who has forgotten more about onions than I know I decided that I knew better than my neolithic northern mate and chose to ignore him, and these are the result. 3 lbs 11 oz or 1.67kgs. What a cockhead!
It means I will now have to consider putting these in the exhibition onion class at Harrogate and Malvern, (assuming I get another 3 to match them) which is a bit of a bugger as it puts you up against a whole different class of exhibitor entirely, such as Vin Throup, Ivor Mace, Andrew Jones and Dave Metcalfe. The 1.5kg class was introduced for those who didn't have the facilities to grow big onions, and the joke among some circles is it's for those growers who don't know how to grow onions! Well, I guess this proves that I can grow onions now? However, it also proves that I don't fucking listen!
These two had completely run out of steam and the foliage was spent, as you could see the neck starting to collapse to one side. I cut the tops off, discarded the M3 mix onto the garden, washed the roots of any remaining soil (which were very strong and healthy I have to say) and have laid them on their sides, necks downwards on a blanket in the conservatory with some polystyrene sheet over them to dry them off a bit, and will turn them over the next few days before storing them somewhere at constant temperature (don't know where yet!). I have 4 more that are about 1/2" to 3/4" behind and still growing quite well, so I'll get these to the same diameter (hopefully!) and cut the tops as soon as they do. I also have several more that are more squat shaped (not a shape I favour) and should be able to make a set of three for local classes. All in all it's been enjoyable watching them swell and wondering how big they'll get and i've learnt a lot about growing them in pots. I hope to repeat the process next season in a polytunnel that I intend to purchase for said purpose.
My thanks to Helen for supplying the plants in the first place and Dan for the advice during the season. As for our sidekick Paul Bastow, some of you may know that he is actually a security consultant and spends his days advising people on how to stay safe and how to protect their property. He is always one step ahead of the criminal mind, and employs a vast array of gadgetry in his daily quest to keep the streets of Britain free from evil. Well, last night his had his sat nav nicked from his van! Double cockhead!
1 comment:
I only had it nicked because I was away at the garden harvesting my onions at 17.5" bang on 1.5kg like I told you the other day
cockhead
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