A sign your onions are usually ready to harvest is when the green tops flop over naturally.<\/p>\n
Stringing onions is a traditional method for long-term storage.<\/p>\n
This is achieved by creating a loop of string and weaving the dried stems of cured onions through it, securing them one by one.<\/p>\n
This process allows for good air circulation and keeps the onions fresh for months when hung in a cool, dark, and dry location.<\/p>\n
They keep far better this way than when stored loosely in a pantry.<\/p>\n
If the process feels challenging, recycled onion bags offer a simple alternative and can be hung in any airy, dry location.<\/p>\n
I braid my onions each season and keep them on my covered verandah near the kitchen for convenience.<\/p>\n
To start the process, you need to cure the harvested onions, in other words, dry them.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t skimp on the drying time; they must be well dried to avoid any rotting.<\/p>\n
I dry mine on newspaper on my small, covered deck, out of direct sunlight.<\/p>\n
Once the stalks are brown, they are ready for the next step.<\/p>\n
When it comes to braiding, I usually use one strand of twine, but some people use three and others use the onions\u2019 own tops to create a braid.<\/p>\n
Add onions one by one as you braid, ensuring the stems are tucked and wrapped securely and tying them off at the end.<\/p>\n
The task always makes me feel like a pioneer on the porch, but the results justify the effort.<\/p>\n
Each braid becomes neater with practice, and experimenting with different methods is worthwhile.<\/p>\n
I adjust my approach depending on onion size, and many helpful guides are available.<\/p>\n
When it comes to spring onions, I slice them up and freeze the surplus, as they are great in soups or a casserole in winter.<\/p>\n
Red onions can also be strung, but I never grow as many of the red ones as the brown ones, so I use them as needed.<\/p>\n
I love the sweetness and I do caramelise them and pop them in a jar in the fridge to add to various dishes.<\/p>\n
They are especially delicious with sausages, in burgers or over chops.<\/p>\n
Adding in a toasted sandwich will take that toastie up a whole notch.<\/p>\n
Red onions are also great when pickled and can be kept in the fridge until needed.<\/p>\n
The French make superb French onion soup, a sweet, flavourful and economical dish topped with a baguette slice and grilled cheese.<\/p>\n
If you have never had French onion soup, you need to try it!<\/p>\n
For caramelised onion tarts served with a green salad, I prefer small individual tarts baked in tins with removable bases.<\/p>\n
Shallots are ideal for these due to their sweetness.<\/p>\n
Resembling small red onions, shallots have an elongated shape and form clusters similar to garlic, usually with one or two large cloves.<\/p>\n
Shallots take up less room in the garden and are great for people living alone who use a small number of onions.<\/p>\n
Caramelised onions pair beautifully with salmon, especially when combined in puff or savoury short pastry.<\/p>\n
You can also braid your shallots and garlic the same way as your brown onions.<\/p>\n
However, one thing to be aware of is that if you hang them in your kitchen, it can get steamy, so you need to use them promptly.<\/p>\n
When stored in a dry place, your braided onions will last through winter.<\/p>\n
Happy braiding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sign your onions are usually ready to harvest is when the green tops flop over naturally. Stringing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,3278,8589,221,8587,111,139,69,145436,8588,42909,61,810,21980,1959],"class_list":["post-250129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-facts","tag-garden","tag-how","tag-kem","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-onions","tag-ormonds","tag-string","tag-to","tag-up","tag-vegetable","tag-your"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}