There’s never been a better time to go self-sufficient. In our ongoing series, Sally Coulthard shares tried-and-tested tips from her Yorkshire smallholding
THIS MONTH Growing onions
Author and seasoned smallholder Sally shares her Yorkshire plot with sheep, horses, hens, ducks, geese, an orchard, a vegetable garden and a pond
For hundreds of years, it was thought that the onion was the gardener’s ally. The humble allium was believed to have an almost magical effect on any plant that grew nearby. Victorian growers kept roses and onions as close companions; if a large bulb was planted under a rose bush and touched its roots, it was thought to supercharge the petals’ fragrance. The Elizabethans grew strawberries next to onions, a subterranean marriage thought to improve the fruit’s taste. Shakespeare even celebrated this time-honoured practice in Henry VPart I: “And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best, Neighboured by fruit of baser quality.”
Our ancestors might not have known why onions worked miracles, but they were right to revere this root vegetable. Not only are onions useful in the kitchen and bursting with antioxidants and vitamins, they’re also one of nature’s most-effective pest repellents. The chemical odours released by onions act as an organic deterrent to aphids, carrot fly, beetles and even rabbits, helping to protect other plants that nestle nearby. Brassicas, carrots, tomatoes, lettuces, peppers, parsnips, spinach and – yes, the Bard was right – even strawberries are given a helping hand by this versatile vegetable.
March is the perfect month to plant onion sets. I rarely bother growing from seed apart from spring onions. Onion sets – which are just baby bulbs – are inexpensive, readily available and a dream for an impatient gardener like me. It takes, on average, about 80-100 days for a set to become a full-grown onion; that’s a longenough wait as it is, without adding an extra three weeks to grow from seed. Onions have shallow, delicate roots, so it’s important to plant them in soil that’s already had plenty of mulch or compost added to it. I tend to grow onions in my raised beds – partly because they’re right by the back door, so I can grab one in the middle of cooking – but mostly because the soil is rich and free-draining, and in a sunny spot. Onions hate being soggy or in lots of shade. I also grow my onions in raised beds, so I can easily cover them with nets. Wild birds aren’t the problem for me, it’s the ruddy chickens. Almost as fast as I can plant them, they’re busy pulling them out and hawking them on the floor like cowboys with a spittoon.
Planting pin-straight rows of onions appeals to the pedant in me, but there’s also a logic to keeping them nicely spaced apart to prevent fungal problems. I use the wooden handle of my trowel to gouge a shallow, 2cm-deep channel
