Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Nothing Lasts Forever

I probably have about ten pounds of onions left from last season's crop . . . but to say they are no longer keeping well is an understatement.


A few of them are still good so technically I'm not out of onions yet.  Not quite.


But most of them are not lookin' very good when I cut into them.


Some are REALLY bad.  Eeeuuuuw!

Neither the white nor the red ones are keeping any better than the other.

I suppose if I had idyllic storage conditions in which to keep them, they would have fared better.

Still, all in all, having made it this far into the year with our own onions is not too shabby.

However . . . 


. . . this may be the way to go for reliable long-term preservation!  (Sue, please note peek of scallopy edges just for you.)

34 comments:

judy said...

Guess who,Ya ,your right,But I didn't expect that onion,My stomach is on rehab ,I spent all winter not catching anything but the other day ,Bam it hit and hard .But I'm on the mend ,even took Jerry out for his appt and blood .The last type of chemo they gave him sort of ruined his ability to create more good blood cells.So he needs transfusions a lot .I wish I knew a Dr because the VA is making me piping mad .Jerry coded on a dye ( contrast dye ) near Christmas so he never wants it again.But it will be hardto track the cancer.Jerry was scared to death ,my big strong marine .He died for 7 mi.Knocked out a lung,they broke his rib ,reviving him and some kedney damage .He is still with me ,Now we are dealing with another foot issue ,Not sure if its totally diabetic related or more damage to the area from chemo.soon ,they may have to amputate his leg but Friday they are gonna try to put a stent in were they found a blockage .That MIGHT be the reason his toes won't heel and they have been removing one by one .I watched the podiatrist tack off one of his toes right in his office ,no blood to speak of because he doesn't get any blood flow in that region.Oh I feel like I want to tell you so much and want to hear all your doing .Is everyone OK,don't have time to catch up,but oh ,the reason ,I say I wish I knew a Dr is they keep trying to sneak a dye scan on Jerry .2 times .I have went to patient advocate .In this day and age there has to be more.We are moving next week,I know I should be packing .Remember Along time ago I told you about my horror story of how when I rented this house than ,sort of forced to buy on a C.O.D..Now you can read a big article about this guy Les Reynolds ,he has been fined before but he doesn't care .He makes money hand over fist .I knew he was bad, but not another George Soras.They actually have a name for what he does "Bait And Switch"And he hooked us line and sinker ,Hope everyone is alright.I always meant to stop by ans say hello,but you know me?if you want to read the article Google contract for deed ,right under the yellow advertisements 4th down.I believe,it says cod -horror homes ?? something like that .My guy ,The one that owns this house is about 1/2 way through the story.Take care friend

Mama Pea said...

Judy - Omigosh, so good to hear from you. You've been in my thoughts and I've been thinking you maybe were in the throes of moving and didn't have computer access. So glad to see you've kept your chirky outlook no matter what's going on. Here's hoping things take a real up-turn when you're moved into your new place and Jerry gets a little more straightened around. I know what a challenge it is for him (and you!) continually, and you're a saint for the wonderful care you give him.

Leigh said...

Hurray for dehydration! Looks like your onions lasted a pretty good while though. I've not done well with onions which is too bad because we love them.

Tombstone Livestock said...

the dried onions look great, amazing that the fresh held up this long. Can't you freeze chopped onions?

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

You're right, not too shabby!! :-)

DFW said...

I agree with all, dried onions is the way to go. You can re-hydrate them & they are good to go as sauteed, steamed, softened or caramalized(sp?) - dehydrated onions are the way to add flavor in any situation!

Anonymous said...

Nice!

Michelle said...

I just found onions in our garage that I didn't know we had. Haven't cut into them yet. Now I am a little scared.

Sue said...

Scallopy shelves!!!!!
Scallopy shelves!!!!!!
Oh, I LOVE the scallop shelves.
Jealousy, jealousy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and thank you for a peek of the scallop shelves!!)
:D

Amy Dingmann said...

Eek! That onion that went yucky was REALLY yucky! Hopefully there will be more onions soon...you know, if it ever warms up enough to get something in the ground...

judy said...

now you made me cry again,nothing new ,lost a nephew last week,and the horrid Ghoul attacks in 3's in our family but I don't believe such nonsense ,so up with the big girl panties ,or high school anyway,I did better thinking then

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I just dehydrated some kale yesterday. I didn't have any onions to stock up on after last summer. You are very lucky.

Jenyfer Matthews said...

Don't feel bad - many of the onions I get from the store "fresh" look like that. I cut into one that was so pungent the other day I thought might go blind (I've read that the older they are, the more fumes they put off?)

Tami said...

I'm so glad you posted this! I'm not a fan of freezing as it makes the whole freezer smell like onions. I was thinking I need to invest in a good dehydrator this year. Onions and tomatoes for sure!

Lisa said...

You'd think with your 'freezer' weather up there, those onions would be fine. That one really gross onion, other than a little sprouting, didn't seem to look too bad on the outside. Every year my husband says he wants to build a root cellar for us, but not sure that's too practical with our SC mild winters. I've always been envious of those of you who can store onions & potatoes and such. I think I so need a dehydrator! Hope the other onions aren't all as bad!

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - We, too, use a LOT of onions. They're a root crop and we do have pretty good luck growing any root crop up here. I actually was surprised they lasted as long as they did because right from harvest I started finding some small areas of rot in the onions. I think it was our wonky growing year (all over the country!) last summer though.

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - I know many people do freeze chopped onions, but they seem a little on the "watery" side to me that way. Even though dehydrating is a sure-fire, reliable way to keep them long term, I still prefer using them "fresh" from the bin.

Mama Pea said...

Kim - Yep, especially considering the fact that I didn't feel they cured for storage as well this past year!

Mama Pea said...

DFW - Maybe I've not learned how to use the re-hydrated ones properly. Can you come give me a few lessons? (Maybe wait until the snow melts and all this terrible mud disappears though!) ;o}

Mama Pea said...

Stephanie - Thank you, ma'am!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - For me to find a forgotten stash would be loverly at this point! Hope yours have stored well.

Mama Pea said...

Sue - Get a grip, Crazy Lady! ;o} (You're SO easy to please!)

Mama Pea said...

Amy - Sounds as though you may have more snow on the ground right now than we do. Yikes! This winter may have been a relatively snowless one to begin with . . . but criky! These spring snows are the pits, aren't they? :o\

Mama Pea said...

Judy - Methinks you've just had waaay too much on your plate since high school!

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - Dehydrating kale? From your garden already this year?? If so, wow. Could we ever use a shot of that wonderful green stuff!

Mama Pea said...

Jen - Okay, here's something to confuse the issue . . . these onions of mine we so strong when I first began using them that I almost considered wearing a gas mask when peeling/cutting them up. But as the winter went on, they gave off much less offensive fumes. Shows to go ya (!) that you can't count on anything! I think it was just a baaaad year for onions, home grown or commercial.

Mama Pea said...

Tami - I think for freezing you'd have to pack the chopped ones in glass jars. But that's always chancy in the freezer, I think. (Or maybe I'm just too clumsy.)

Everybody should have a good dehydrator. You don't need a bit of energy to store any dried stuff. (Although you'd have a hard time convincing me to dry my fresh garden peas instead of freezing them!)

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - Because most of the onions look fine on the outside, sometimes I have to cut into 3 or 4 of them to get a good one. Takes me twice as long to make a meal that way!

I think to have a successful root cellar in your climate, you'd have to incorporate some kind of a method of cooling it down in the fall, and keeping it cool enough all winter.

As I told Tami, get thee a good dehydrator!

Susan said...

I used my last onion long, long ago. Storage is always a problem for me. That is probably why I just planted 75 Big Daddys and have three more types to go. Do you think???? I believe I will be dehydrating MANY onions this year. I like the idea of slicing them - how thick/thinly do you slice yours to dehydrate, oh Garden Maven of the Scallopy Shelves???

Mama Pea said...

Susan - You can get out into the garden to plant onions already? WAAAAH!

As far as how thin to slice onions for dehydrating, "da books" seem to agree that 1/4" is a good size. My slices may or may not increase in thickness the longer I work at filling my dryer trays. (Ahem.) Diced onions dry much, much faster and I'm think I may go to that method for all of 'em I dehydrate this year. I mean, how many times do you actually need them in rings rather than chopped?

(You always make me smile with your way of writing that enables your perky, chirky personality to shine through!)

Erin said...

You made it to spring which I think is pretty good! I'm in awe, especially since we can't store them at all in our climate, root veggies are definitely better grown up north!

Sparkless said...

I haven't attempted to store any onions. No space to do it with our mostly dirt crawl space under the house.
Can you cut up onions and freeze them or is that not a good way to keep them?

Mama Pea said...

Erin - Just wait until you get resettled in the north country. Your gardening will change because of all the different things you can grow and store. (Oh, yeah. There will be lots of things you can't grow like your beautiful tomaters and peppers. Unless that handy hubby of yours constructs a greenhouse for you right away!)

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - Yes, you can chop and freeze onions. Just store them in glass containers 'cause the odor seems to come right through plastic ones and "flavors" your whole freezer!