Design

The small pot of somewhat neglected Welsh onions ( Allium fistulosum ) that I bought at a local nursery last summer continues to flourish. They're actually Asian bunching onions, but came to Wales and the UK long ago. They've become huge, and are now flowering, but continue to amaze me with how productive and delicious they are (not stringy or tough at all -- basically giant green onions). One of my favorite gardening podcasts, The Alternative Kitchen Garden had an interesting program about them. What's not to like about perennial bunching onions?

I've been growing garlic for awhile -- incredibly easy and remarkably delicious fresh. Green garlic is a farmer's market staple in trendy markets in Southern California (I know this because I listen to an interesting podcast from KCRW, a public radio station in Santa Monica, CA, called 'Good Food.' I discovered green garlic by accident, as I have had to harvest it early in the past (before the satellite garden) to make room for the summer tomatoes, peppers, and squash in my garden rotations in the main vegetable garden. I planted lots of garlic, onions, and potatoes in the satellite garden, as I knew any emerging woodchucks wouldn't be interested. Sure enough, before s/he was relocated , all that disappeared were the lonely broccoli relatives that I thought I'd try, hidden among the onion plants. Hrrmph. But now that s/he is on to hopefully greener pastures, I'm thinking about harvesting more of the garlic early, and planting some other things. Two onion...