I have been under the assumption that onions are root vegetables. Are they? There is some discussion going on about this. My argument is: 1.Onions form a bulb 2.You eat the part that has roots attached, not something picked off the top (like peppers). Others say: 1. Onions are not completely underground like potatoes. 2. (They don't have a second argument). So, help me know the truth, and set me free!
Interesting question. Is the bulb part of the stem or part of the root? I would have gone with root until I started thinking about the make-up of the plant and how the roots come out of the bottom of the bulb. The bulb is like a fat part of the stem on the onion family. I will always think of the onions are part of the root crops, but I don't really know. Maybe some knowledgable person will enlighten us.
I found this on the internet: "What we call Root Vegetables aren't actually all roots: the category also includes other strangely named things such as corms, rhizomes and tubers. For instance, a potato isn't a root; it's actually a "tuber". Peanuts are "technically" Root Vegetables, because they are tubers that grow off a rhizome underground, but they are treated as a nut (and so would you be, if you went looking for them next to the parsnips.)..." Read more http://www.cooksinfo.com/root-vegetables
I went looking and I was surprised that information I found wasn't really clear to me. I honestly don't understand it completely. But apparently the bulbs are modified stems.
Prickly, I found that the bulbs are "enlarged bases" of the grass like stems. It took me an hour going through books and the 'net, but basically we found the same information. I still think of onions as a root vegetable, though. I guess it only matters if you need to know how to fertilize (potash for roots, nitrogen for greenery).
Well, whatever else we might want to say about onions, they are delicious. Bulbs or fat stems--I love them. Grew onions and leeks from seed for the first time this year. They did really well. Easy to do after all. For some reason, I assumed it would be difficult.
