How to Grow, Harvest & Save Onion Seed

Copyright © 2009 Cherie Kuranko "InkSpot" All Rights Reserved

Saving onion seed is a great way to save money, build your personal seed bank and produce seed that will grow better in your garden every year. To save onion seed is a two-year process, but fairly easy to do once you learn how.

Items You Will Need:

• Onion Seed (Open-Pollinated or Heirloom only)
• Clippers
• Brown Paper Bag
• Canning Jar or Freezer Bag
• Seed Screen

Seed-producing onions are biennial and it will take two growing seasons to get onion seed. This article explains the seed-to-bulb-to-seed method. Purchase onion seed and plant as you normally would in the spring. When purchasing seed, only buy open-pollinated or heirloom seeds. Hybrids and other types of seeds are not true seed and your results may be mixed. Some great places to buy good onion seed are Seed Savers Exchange and Pinetree Garden Seeds. You should order and grow enough onions so you have some for eating and some dedicated for seed saving. Onions can cross, so it's best to start with one variety at a time. Plant your onion seed and do not pick or eat the ones you intend to harvest for seed.

At the end of the growing season when the onion tops are brown, drying and bent over, harvest the onion bulbs. This should be done before the first frost. Do NOT wash the onions. However, you can shake the dirt off. Leave the tops on for braiding later. Choose only the best bulbs for seed saving. Discard or eat others that may not over winter well.

Spread onions out in a dry location, not touching one another, on a board or screen. If it looks like rain, you will have to move them to a location where they will not get wet. Try to use a platform that allows air to circulate around the onions well. Avoid drying the bulbs in direct sunlight in temperatures that are above 75 degrees. This can cause the bulbs to spoil or sunburn. Dry and cure the onions for 10-12 days before braiding.

After curing, you can braid the tops so the onions hang one above the other (not in clumps) and then hang them in a dark, dry storage area until spring. A barn, potting sheds or greenhouses are usually good places to hang them. Protect from the frost and do not store at room temperature. They should keep about 3-6 months and just begin sprouting come planting time in the spring. Sprouting times vary among different varieties.

In spring, when it's time to plant onions again, remove each onion by untwisting the braid and removing the dead, dried up tops. You will probably notice small green sprouts starting at the tops of the bulbs. Leave those on.

Plant the bulbs in your garden. It is interesting to watch the large, tube-like seed stalks grow bigger every day. Then one day you will notice tiny white flowers have formed--the flower head. They are about the size of a softball and remind one of popcorn balls. They are quite dainty and beautiful. When the seeds form, the onion plant begins to dry. The flower head will begin to darken, turning almost solid black the seeds are dry and ready to harvest.

Using a brown paper bag, bend the onion stalk over and snip the entire flower head into the bag. Store the bag in a dry area out of direct sunlight to finish drying process. To completely remove the seeds from the flower head, you can shake the bag to allow the loose seeds to drop into bag. Any remaining seeds can be removed by using other techniques; including, threshing, using wire screens to rub the heads over or stepping on the seed heads to break open the pods.

Screen any debris from your onion seed using seed screens or other screens from home. Nice seed screens can be purchased from some of the seed companies listed in the resource links. Place onion seed in a sealed glass canning jar or freeze in freezer bags to lengthen the life of the seed. If using the jar method, store in a dry, cool dark area without extreme temperature fluctuations.

Now that you know how to harvest and save onion seed, get involved with other like-minded gardeners who are building their seed banks. One day our country's future may depend on those who have the talent to save seeds and pass this knowledge on to others.

Information & Tips:

• Onion seed generally keeps for about 2 years under ideal conditions
• Start your own seed bank using quality, open-pollinated or heirloom seeds only. Look in the catalog index to see which symbol they use to identify these types of seeds.
• Join a seed saving group, like South Sound Seed Stewards in Yelm, WA
• Subscribe to magazines to learn more about self-sustainable lifestyles
• Three great farm, garden and self-sustainable topic magazines are: Mother Earth News, Backwoods Home and Countryside & Small Stock Journal
• Avoid using hybrid and genetically modified or engineered

Read:  Seed Saving: Start Your Own Seed Bank

Discover: How to Grow Sweet Potatoes & Sweet Potato Slips

Resources:

South Sound Seed Stewards of Yelm, WA

Seed Savers Exchange - Seed Resource

Forum for Seed Savers Exchange

Pinetree Garden Seeds - Seed Resource

Mother Earth News Magazine

Backwoods Home Magazine

Countryside & Small Stock Journal

Wise Bread: Self-Sustainable Living Site

Copyright © 2009 Cherie Kuranko "InkSpot" All Rights Reserved