Onion Harvest Drying

Onions drying on our veranda.

The onion harvest is in from my Kanagawa garden. I planted about twenty-five red onions in December or January (I can't recall exactly, and my office assistants won't let me up.) in a bed layered with leaves and manure and then mulched with wara (rice straw).

The mulched onion bed in January. If you squint, you can see them...

It didn't feel too promising, I must admit, in the early days as they battled the cold, dry winter, but they held on until the weather warmed.

My brave little onions stretching for the sun.

Then they sent up their strong green leaves and set my mouth to watering as I anticipated pickles, salads, and chutneys. Friends, of course, anticipated the same as well as one or two to call their very own.

I harvested them a little late - Saturday, June 2 - but before the rainy season arrived in earnest. Now, they are lounging on our veranda in between showers and underneath the laundry.