Making An Onion String

We used to keep our harvested onions in a drawer out on the side porch. The only problems with that were--no quick access and limited monitoring for sick or mouldy onions.

Well now, this is the simple way that we store our onions for use later...and, you don't have to have any special macraméé skills either.
This method works for garlic as well.

--The whole process actually begins with harvesting your onions and letting them dry and 'cure' on a ventilated rack of some kind. About two weeks or so, depending upon the weather. Having ventilation on all sides is essential, and if lying flat they may have to be turned a couple of times.

--Next you hang-up a piece of twine on a nail, knot the end to prevent ravelling and tie the first onion to the bottom of it securely (a square or granny knot, e.g.).

--Then you hold the onion's foliage against the twine with your forefinger and wind the foliage around the string 4-6 times...


--Then you pull it downwards with your thumb and forefinger so that it fits snugly against the onion underneath it. You want to keep it snug so that the foliage does not become loose and unwind, causing the onion to fall off or be loose and floppy.
You will notice that as you make this there will be a sort of "open" place in the string, just fit the onion that you are working on into this little space.

--When all the onions have been strung then you can cut off the extra bits of the dead foliage. It's neater and one less place that mould could form.
Having said this, some folks do like to leave the loose ends of the foliage, it's just that I find it a bit messy.



You can then hang this onion/garlic string in your kitchen for use or whatever dry place you prefer to keep them in.
When you want to use an onion, just clip it free with the kitchen scissors.
Another thing that we do (that isn't necessary at all) is to make two strings: a string with the larger onions for main cooking and a string with smaller onions for when you don't need a whole big one.


Once you have the hang of this, you'll find that it's really quick and easy to do. Storing them this way will save you space and look nice as well.

 

Good tutorial. Thanks!

 

Thanks Sjoerd. This should come in real handy as we have planted onions this year. And I was wondering what we were to do with them. How long can we keep them this way in between using them?

 

Well, I don't know how long they will stay good, but last year ours lasted about 6 months as I recall.

I have a feeling that how long you can save harvested onions depends upon several factors:
--The type of onion it is.
--How well it was cured prior to storage.
and
--How optimal the storage place is (cool with good ventilation).

I have not had problems with the storage of my onions, so I have not gotten very scientific about storing them.

 

Another great lesson. My mother did the same with her garlic. Hopefully next year I'll have some to braid.
Gardengater

 

Oh so that's how it's done. It looks so easy, thank You so much for showing this.

jeffrey

 

Good lesson Sjoerd. I do that with my garlic, and peppers. I usually store my onions in a burlap sac. Works good but now and then i do find some that are bad. I have to try this method. Thanks!

 

What a great tip and tutorial Sjoerd. I am thinking with all the tips you have, you should write a book!!! 8)

 

I'm with buda, do write a book! You've shown so many step-by-step tutorials from making a new veggie plot to this. The onion strings looks so tidy and handy, well done.

 

Hee hee hee ---Buda en Droopy, you guys....!
I really do not think that I could write a book that would sell very well at all. There are literally thousands and thousands of books, DVD's and so forth out there already...not to mention the wealth of info on the internet just clicks away.
--but what a very nice thing to say. Really.
As we say in dutch, Mijn dag kan niet meer stuk-- which basically means, "Nothing can spoil my day now".

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments on this thread. I'm always pretty happy if someone can use the experience or opinions that I post.

 

WE grow lots of onions, too many to string I fear. We dry them hanging, then place them in the net bags which grapefruit and oranges come in, lay them in a cool, dark room. If we see they're beginning to go, we peel, chop and freeze them. They usually keep good until about December.
That does look like a great idea.

 

What a wonderful way to store onions!!!

 

This is something absolutely new to me...

i am surely gonna tell this to my mom...

 

That's great Violet. I hope that she will try it, because it really is a snap to do...and so handy.