My onions are one crop that did well this summer. And surprisingly, they seem to be keeping well. Usually the onions look fine when harvested, but when cut open, one of the inner rings is rotten. Soon, the whole center of the onion is rotten.
I talked to my extension office, and they suggested that possibly fluctuating soil moisture had something to do with my problem. Well, this summer there was no moisture to fluctuate! And the onions appear to have no center rot problem. Maybe onions like dry weather?
After harvesting the onions, I braided them and hung them in the wood shed to dry. I've been using a lot of them in pizza sauce and salsa. But since my tomatoes didn't do that great, I still have lots left.
I borrowed my mom's dehydrator, and tried drying some.
It took a large bowl of onions to fill the dehydrator. I sat the dehydrator in the basement in my husband's shop because the smell of onions was almost overpowering.
The dehydrator ran all night. In the morning I separated the rings and left it on for a few more hours.
Once the onions were totally dry, I decided to turn them into minced onions.
The blender made quick work and almost made it onion powder than minced.
The entire dehydrator load, once blended, fit into one pint container! How is that for space saving!
I'm storing the dried onion in the freezer since it doesn't have any anti-caking agents added and I'm guessing it may absorb moisture.
I still have about 60 heads of onions hanging. I have no idea how many I use in one winter. I'm going to keep using them for as long as they seem to be keeping well. Then I may dehydrate some more. Hopefully, I can use my own onions (fresh or dried) until spring onions arrive! Not that onions are expensive to buy, but since my garden was a failure in most other areas, I'm enjoying this one small success!
Linked to Tuesday Garden Party
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