Vegetable Bulbs

This is the time of year to plant onions and garlic in my climate zone.

This year, we're trying two new crops in the Veggie Garden. We selected Elephant Garlic, an organic bulb from Territorial Seed. Although this can be used for culinary purposes, the flavor is mild and unexciting. However, the big globe flower is said to be gorgeous. So we're growing this bulb as much for it's visual appeal as for its use in food. The first week of October, we planted five cloves, each slightly bigger than the entire bulb of a regular garlic.

Next, we selected a different onion, called an Egyptian Walking Onion. Also an organic bulb from Territorial Seed, this red onion sets fruit on the top, rather than the root. While we can harvest the stalks as green onions for cooking, we selected this for its visual interest. Once the bulbs set on the top, as in this picture, the stalks tend to bend over and touch the ground, where the bulbs root and begin the growing process all over agin. Hence the name "walking" onion.

Although we've seen no sign of the garlic, the red walking onion is already sprouting.