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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Greens on the Windowsill

A lovely gardening season warm-up for all level gardeners - sprouting green onions on your windowsill. You have noticed perhaps that your onions have sensed spring long before our own senses deliver the merry news to us - the life force is rising, the pull of the sun is felt across the living world and the awakening is starting.
Day One: Fun and games finding pretty water jars + adding onions
Organic (untreated) onions and potatoes are responding from their storage bins, pushing little green antennae out in hopes of getting a chance for life. Place an onion (with or without green sprouts) in water, the root part only - by all means use an organic onion. Note how within a few hours dry roots will swell and start to grow. A few days later a thick plume of onion greens will follow. Cut with kitchen scissors, eat raw or otherwise. The greens will re-sprout a few more times. Make a collection of onions - different sizes, shapes, water jars - to have harvest until the outdoor gardens catch up - but if you don't have a garden, this is a ticket for some fresh lovely totally local greens!
Lesson learned - larger onions make larger plumes. These were my own onions, grown last year - all big ones eaten up, nothing but small bulbs left. There is no shame in buying an onion to sprout though!
Day Three or Four - Bingo, little green plume emerges.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Arina,
It is magical how you weave so much beauty into growing food very simply.
Sarah T Farmington NM

Bobbi A. Chukran, Author said...

Another brilliant idea! I never thought about doing this. I have cut off the sprouting ends and planted them in the garden, but this is much easier, and faster, Thanks for the tip!