Onion sets (50 onions in a set) usually arrive by the second week of January. I will post their arrival on Facebook. Plant onions as soon as they become available in full sun and well-drained soil that is loose to about eight inches deep. Onions should be planted deep enough to hold up the plant and about four to five inches apart. Once a root system is established (about three weeks) pull some of the dirt away from the top to expose the bulb to sunlight. Don’t let them get thirsty. Onions require good moist soil during the first part of the growing cycle. Once the bulbs start to form, moisture becomes less of an issue.
Onions require more fertilizer than most garden crops. They really enjoy moderate nitrogen (1st number) and high phosphate (2nd number) fertilizers. Apply fertilizer when you prepare the bed. At three weeks top dress with nitrogen and then again when the bulb starts to grow. I also fertilize every three weeks or so until the end of April. You should be harvesting onions towards the end of May. If onions are not in the crop rotation scheme this year, then start on the garden bed preparation. Seed potatoes will be arriving at the end of January along with most of the garden seeds. Click here for more onion growing tips.