Onions Can Store for a Year If You Cure Them This Way

Garden Betty

Here we are, a whole season after the first onion seeds were sown, and those tiny black specks have slowly grown into a bed of bulging brown (or red, or white) globes pushing their way out of the soil.

While onions can be harvested and eaten at any stage, the most satisfying part of growing onions (in particular, storage onions) is being able to pick a fresh onion from the pantry months after you’ve picked it from the ground.

Curing makes that possible.

Stop watering your onion crop before harvest

Withholding water at this stage helps keep the onions from rotting.

Dry out the roots immediately after harvest

Lay the onions out on the ground or in another open, sunny area for a day or two to dry out the roots.

Continue curing the onions

After a nice day of getting some sun, move the onions into a sheltered, shady spot (under a tree, on a covered porch, or in a well-ventilated garage, for example) and spread them out one by one.

You don’t need to clean off the onions yet. Just set them out to dry, dirt and all, until the stems turn brown and brittle. This rest period allows the onions to go deeper into dormancy so that they’re less susceptible to disease.

The most important part of curing is giving them enough shade and having plenty of air circulation around the bulbs.

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Garden Betty

More posts:

Harvesting and Curing Garlic This Way Makes It Last for Months

What To Do If Your Onions Are Flowering—Timing Is Everything