The most informational gardening channel out there! Thank you for all the effort you put into these videos.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Wow, thank you!

@haydene492

Жыл бұрын

I agree, great information always look forward to new videos. Hello from Australia

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

@@haydene492 Thanks!

Agree with folks' sentiments that yours is perhaps the most information- and data-dense gardening/growing channels out there - and also so pleasant and chill to watch! I love your style. Keep up the phenomenal work!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for the comment!

As for the taste test... I've found that the smaller the full-grown onion, the intenser the taste. So some of these may have been bred for pungency rather than weight. The colorful onions have a secondary use as garnish because they are more attractive in salads and preserves.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

That is interesting about the pungency, something I am interested in comparing.

Great harvest... Explore it’s storage compactly, with a few from each.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I have three form each variety hanging in my pantry already, going to wait until they start to decay or sprout.

Great Trial😊

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Bruce, your results for storage will no doubt be interesting and informative: length of storage is an important factor (for me) when choosing a variety to grow. I'm regularly disappointed by the poor storage characteristics of most varieties of onions, especially red onions, and have recently been planting more onion-like shallots, like 'Zebrune,' which keep very well, almost into summer, providing a close to year-round supply. When cooking, I use onions as one of several base ingredients, rarely by themselves, so taste is not a crucial decider. Thanks for all your illuminating research!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, length of storage is a real important factor, I have some of each variety hung in my pantry now, and planning to leave most of them until they start to degrade. It will be really interesting to see what ones do well. I have heard that some of the shallots store for a really long time, but to almost get to the next summer is amazing!

@yevpt

Жыл бұрын

Great to hear that you’ll test the storage longevity of each variety

Another great trial. I've grown the Craig and various types of the Tropea onions, and they're nice sweet onions for fresh use but I had no luck keeping them. As a general rule, the sulphur compounds that make onions spicy are also what inhibit bacterial and mold growth, so the hotter the onion the better it keeps. Here in the States we have an open pollinated variety Dakota Tears which is excellent and of course Stuttgarter onions are excellent keepers. I also grow lots of Walla Walla sweet onions which are a customer favorite, super sweet and mild, but they only keep for a few weeks because of that. Thanks for another great video.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Good to know about the Tropea type not storing! And I hadn't thought of the pungency being part of preventing rot, but it makes sense. Thanks!

Thanks Bruce, I've been having a rough week and this video is a great pick-me-up. I never get tired of your variety trials!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Awesome!

I look forward to future videos on this topic!!❤

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

It's awsome how you just mention the right word to avoid the angery nerd and let me know that you know what you are talking about. Much love!

@deKorpi

Жыл бұрын

Are you angery?

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Haha, what is that one word?

Excited you picked Ailsa Craig. I did some research on OP varieties and this was the one I settled on. I've seen contradicting notes on it's storage so I would be keen to find out if you are going to store them how they did for you.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Ailsa Craig does seem to be a useful one, and it will be really interesting to see how long it stores for.

Your content is the best well put together on varieties. I watch each different episode several times as they are so full of information. I just wish I was able to source the same seeds as you have here in the USA. Keep at it!

Excellent onion video. Will use this for reference again I'm sure.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

I've failed at growing onions from seed. After 3 yrs I finally got a decent harvest of yellow onions. I will definitely continue planting until I get a consistent yield. In my location we can plant in the fall and spring. The summers are above 38 C and this year it was near or at 40 C for over 100 days.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

That is hot! So very different from Ireland. Hope you get a good yield next year.

very valuable results ! appreciate your effort in documenting this.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

For your taste test you might consider rinsing sliced onions in water, a chef KZreadr Josh Weissman, recommends it every-time he includes raw onion in a recipe

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

That is interesting. I guess it gets rid of some of the pungency.

@bjm7z

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens yeah he says it’s what restaurants do whenever they serve raw onions as a topping. It reduces the pungency and brings out the sweetness

@bjm7z

Жыл бұрын

He explains the technique at 4:18 in this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/c6epl8WwZLi5nso.html

Thank you so much for creating these videos. They are so informative 👏. A lot of people ask me why I grow onions as the have been reasonably cheep to buy and maybe not noticeably a great different in taste. But for me I love having onions in the garden and I find that since growing we eat so much more. I have had issues with growing red onions and have also come to the conclusion that red barron works best for me. I have had mixed results with seeds and with planting a lot from early in the year do run out of space for seedlings, and for that reason only I also grow sets to get enough yo store through the winter. Thank you Bruce and Fiona 👍

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂 It is a common question. Why grow something that is so cheap and available. Part of the reason for me is to get onions hat are better for different dishes or uses.

Thanks Bruce, my context for growing onions where I am is different, needing to limit myself to intermediate types, but I really appreciate your modeling of how to run trials, and the complexities of interpreting the results. Keep up the good work.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks

A very interesting trial! This past summer, we grew a number of different onions from seed, specifically chosen for storagability, then got sets as well. It was a terrible growing year overall. However, we had two elongated red onion varieties, Tropeana Lunga and Red of Florence, that still managed to do well. The Tropeana Lunga were particularly large. After harvesting, while I had them hanging to cure, they kept trying to grow! So we ate them, first. Both varieties were tasty and we really liked the elongated shape. Much easier to handle for chopping! The Red Baron variety we tried to grow was a bunching onion. They were a complete fail. 😞

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Interesting that the one type continued to grow, that seems to be what happened with Long de Florence Simane we grew, where the plant didn't seem to want to go dormant.

@AMKB01

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens I noticed some differences between the Tropeana Lunga, and the very similar Red of Florence. The Red of Florence had thinner necks, and they died back at the end of the season, as would be expected. The Tropeana Lunga had very thick necks, and never died back. I actually left them out a lot longer than any other onions, and well past our average frost date. They probably would have done well left even longer, if that had been an option. Even after letting them cure laid out on a screen, then trimming the roots and leaves before hanging them to cure longer, those thick necks were very "juicy" and strong. I wonder if it would have been different if they had been allowed to stay out until they started to die back on their own before harvesting. I would definitely grow them again, though. They were quite tasty, were the biggest onions we got, and handled our terrible growing year better than anything else.

Wow! This gives me so much more to look for as I start my onions for the year here in a few weeks. So much more to growing successfully than I ever imagined. Thank you for this!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

So many trials this year! Thanks for all the great info!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, a lot of trials this year, and a few more to make videos about!

@happyhillsfarm9598

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens Can't wait!

Great video once again. It is all so interesting. A real testament to the oh so many variables when it comes to vegetable production. You really never now what you are going to get from one season to the next. I agree with you, that you have to grow something over a few years to see how it performs. I over do it and will grow a variety for 5 years to see if it is worth it to keep as a staple variety. I have also found a difference from the early gardening years to now as far as what I want to eat from the garden. Diversity is delicious! 😊

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I plan to plant as many varieties next year, if not more, but I wonder how many I will reduce it to in a few years time? I think I am beginning to like the diversity, just like I don't grow just one tomato variety.

I could not love this channel more! you have taught me so much, thank you!!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

😊

Amazing level of detail like nowhere else. Thank you

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Incredibly useful and informative! Thanks so much!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Wow. Thank you for doing this. It is beyond interesting and i am keen to hear everything you're doing. Keep up updated on storage for the globos, please. Great video

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂👍

The Cipolle de Tropea look amazing and would definitely be the kind to attract me in the store. I'd be a bit worried that the big ones are a bit bland, as you sometimes have with big onions. Also shoutout to pickled onions (preferably red) which is a great way to store onions ready for use and I make a lot of.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, they do look great, and I wonder if that variety soul be better if smaller. I used to pickle tiny onions, but haven't done it in years.

Just got into onions and will be doing by seed next year

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Trying to be scientific with plants is so fkn hard. We grow 12 hectares of raspberries every year, exact same variety, split into 12 blocks of varying sizes. We plant them in a staggered fashion with the goal to be harvesting raspberries for 11 months of the year. They are all in tunnels and all hydroponic, so largely controlled environment and controlled diet. You would not even believe the level of variance we get due to a cold week or a wet week or a particularly hot week. Then there is water pressure, pest pressure, nutrient variance, power failures... I enjoy these types of analysis videos that you do and I'm sure it helps you make some informed decisions about what you're willing to grow in the future, but you could grow those same varieties every year until the end of time and the variation would be astonishing. At the end of the day, taste is always king. Take care bud.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I can imagine the level of variance can be huge, something that I am realising more and more. For me, I think the process of growing varieties like this is to better understand the differences, to a point, and to make a reasonably appropriate decision, not to find the 'best' variety or method.

Good on you Bruce - my multisown onions are underway now (nearly summer here). I grow Creamgold, an excellent yellow skinned keeping onion (the middle sized ones keep the best - the big ones the worst). They last all winter if cured properly. I love growing onions like this. Great video !

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. I had heard the larger onions don't keep so well. Where do you store them?

@alisonburgess345

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens Inside the house, high up in the pantry, in baskets. They need a bit of airflow and checking regularly in case any start to go soft on you. Save your best, firmest ones for storing..

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

@@alisonburgess345 Sounds good. They do need to be checked regularly, as I hate finding the ripping or oozing onions too late!

My favorites are Alisa Craig and Globo :)

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I think they might be my favourites too.

Super useful info! Thank you so much!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Thank you, great video! I'm going to try growing from seed next year too. :-) I'm really amazed by your onion yields BTW! We are lucky if we reach 1kg per square meter...

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Hope you have a great yield next year.

Thanks for an interesting and informative video.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

It would probably be good to pick half and half varieties that do well in dryer years and wetter years so that you end up with a good crop regardless of the weather conditions

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, it makes sense to select a few different ones.

I'll be interested to see a follow up about taste and storage longevity. Also how your winter crop does.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I am looking forward to that too.

Keep up the great work 👍

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Good one as usual. I do sets and starters here in Japan.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Maybe have potato salad twice a week over the winter and add a quarter of each onion type, very finely chopped, to each salad. It's a fairly painless was to taste lots of raw onion varieties. - - No doubt you will live to be an ultrra runner into your ninties - taking hills in a single bound, with all that onion vim! Thanks for the intelligence and neutrality you bring.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂 Yeah, a lot of potato salad!

Good job!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Wow thank you. Haha the taste test may have to be done over time 😁😋. The globo look amazing on the whole, except for long term storage. Malcolm at allotments for fun and food swears by them. They look an absolute work of art when cut open. Really beautiful. Fabulous video! It was a great harvest anyway, I wonder how strong each is in taste and eye watering, but I don't expect an experiment on the latter 😉😅. Our climates are similar and I can't wait to try a few of those now. I have spring onions in the tunnel at the moment, and leeks but it is exceptionally mild here at the moment, probably 70 degrees today so all the doors will be open. Snow on the 3rd week in November, usually our first frost date in West Wales.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

They are quite an amazing onion! I have passed around a selection of all the varieties to 4 other households, green onions in exchange for feedback on taste, storage, eye watering etc. Should be interesting what comes back. It is really warm over here as well, and very windy!

@Pixieworksstudio

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens it is great idea to find out what other people think too. I like snowball onions, they aren't particularly brilliant growers, although I only grew them last year, but I have never seen onions so bright-white. Thankfully the wind here has gone - looks like it is now with you. Can't wait for the flavour etc video.

Cooked onions are nice but raw onions are so delicious! What about using red for raw taste test and one or two white for raw as a comparison? Good luck with it! Thank you

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I occasionally enjoy raw onions, but haven't been a big fan in general, especially with e types of onions we tend to be able to buy here in Ireland. I am looking forward to finding some of the varieties that I enjoy raw.

@angelad.8944

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens Here in Canada, we can get some really sweet varieties grown in the USA. One of them is so good that you can eat it like an apple, lol. I hope you get at least one sweet variety! 😉

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

@@angelad.8944 Yeah, that would be great. I have tasted some of the one onions in Canada, but nothing close here in Ireland.

Thanks for the great video! I also grow onions, but, unfortunately, very few good seeds are sold, and there is a lot of confusion in the varieties. Several varieties have not risen at all this year. Therefore, I try to grow my onions with seeds from bulbs bought in the store. In some years, slugs really spoil the harvest, unfortunately, you just have to wait for next summer.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Getting good seed for good varieties seems to be an issue for a lot of people.

I find these variety trials hugely impressive, but one thing that I often think is missing is an assessment of the flavour. For example, I have heard that the Globo variety may produce large and attractive looking bulbs, but the taste leaves much to be desired. I appreciate that taste is subjective, so I wonder if there is some way you can work this into your trials, perhaps giving samples of each variety to a panel of people in a blind taste assessment. Just a thought, keep up your great work on this topic

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yes, taste is a big factor, and also subjective, as you say. I have given a sample of all the varieties of onions to 4 other households, with instructions to send me feedback about flavour and other factors. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

There are two types of Tropea onions: Tropea rossa lunga (a long variety) and Tropea rossa tonda (a round shaped variety). Both originate from the small town Tropea in Italy and I know some Italian chefs that only want to use Tropea oninon because of their mild and very good taste. And Rose de Keruel is one of two varieties used to produce the international well known and very high priced Rose de Roscoff in France. So Oignon de Roscoff ist not a name for a variety, but a AOC-label of the Roscoff region in the department of Finistère. Both of these varieties., Topea and Roscoff, are internationally very well known for their excellent and mild taste. So for me it would be important to include this parameter into the evaluation. Thank your for your great work and all the very interesting and very informative videos!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Wow, that is interesting! Always great to learn so much when I release videos like this.

@susannebecker6027

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens I'm sure, not nearly as much as I learn from your videos! Thank you again for all this very interesting content.

Interesting results from seed, thanks for sharing. I've always grown from sets in Spring too, but this year I planted some last month for overwintering too, I'm tempted to try producing my own sets next year, but considering your results from seed I wonder if it's worth the effort instead of letting the seeds go all the way.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I was pleasantly surprised how well they did, and I wish I had grown sets as well to compare.

I bet they would make a great grilled cheese and onion sandwich , even most so with the local sour dough bread in your area.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Some of them would!

You will have a strong immune system with all that onion

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Yep!

@gailthornbury291

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens if you eat all those onions social distancing will happen automatically. You won’t need an immune system.

Best taste test idea I can come up with for onions is to pickle them all separately.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Interesting!

I've grown ailsa craig several times and it generally performs well, it's not great for storage though.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Good to know, thanks.

Perhaps the red onions are more susceptible to watering variations, similar to how tomatoes will burst in boom/bust cycles of water?

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

That would be interesting to find out.

I typically grow 3 varieties, one red, one yellow, one white. This year, I tried a few more to see what does better in our area (New England, across the pond from you). Our climate is much less wet, most years. This year, an exceptionally dry drought for june/july, and into 1st week of august. All of my soil was the same mix of 1/3 my compost, 1/3 peat, 1/3 new bagged garden soil. I started seeds in February inside, over seeding and transplanted end of April. The Utah Yellow did really well, in terms of yield and average size. Ruby Red (long day red onion) did MUCH better than the Red Burgundy variety. Bigger overall yield, bigger avg onions. Pompeii White ended up outproducing the White Sweet Spanish overall yield, even with the Pompeii giving me MUCH smaller avg size. I will definitely sow Red Ruby, Pompeii White and Utah Yellow. In addition, I grew Red Beard Bunching, Tokyo Long white Bunching Onion. BOTH will get resown come February. I grow both of these for dehydrating and storing. I typically overseed, and also over plant early, and then as my growing season comes along, I harvest the smallest, in between the onions growing, for using fresh. I harvested for final season, sometime in late Oct.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

That is interesting, thanks for sharing your experience. I don't know any of those varieties, so many different varieties in different parts of the world! I like your idea of overseeing and then harvesting some small, I should try that.

@gregbluefinstudios4658

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens I know you normally are trying to get good numbers on the harvest, avg size, etc, but for me, I don't need to do the large scale experiments. I like using the food I grow all season, so harvesting some small ones, as I grow, throughout the season is perfect, and it's the same as thinning when you overseed, you're just grabbing tiny onions and USING them to cook!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

@@gregbluefinstudios4658 Makes sense.

In my past I have planted many sets and always had more than i wanted go to seed, switched over to plants (seeds), and now have less than 1% that go to seed. Only var that I have grown that you listed is ailsa craig, I have found it to be very poor in storage, but a good tasteing one. I think in all onions there is a balance in fertility that is part of the storage factor, too thick of a neck leads to poor storage overall. pushing a onion past its best size makes the storage worse.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I have heard that from quite a few people, who says the amount of bolting plants dropped quite a bit with seeds. Thanks for sharing your experience with Ailsa Craig.

Hi bruce! got the patreon working now, doing my bit! This is incredible work especially when im also irish, no other place can i find such good research and entertainment! just wondering where you source your seeds, ive been looking online but its hard to find many at the same supplier. Cant wait to try these varieties next year, many thanks 🙏 especially for the tomatoes, you have some great varieties! ❤

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Awesome, thank you for becoming a Patron! I have been betting my seeds from seedaholic.ie and a few other small places here in Ireland, as well as Moles Seeds in UK (but I have to get a friend to bring them over, as they can't export to EU) and Bingenheimer in Germany.

@peterkernohan778

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens thanks 🙏 Im in Donegal so handy to get it shipped to the north 👍

I'm interested in the strength of flavour, and longest storing. I've kept seed sown shallots (Matador) for over 15 months, and they were the size of a small /medium onions

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I have heard that shallots can last really long, but I haven't much experience growing them.

Amazing video. Would love to have the fertility schedule and information.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. With this Simple garden, I use sheet composting (composting on the soil) for one year with squash, followed the next year by a crop of potatoes with some extra concentrated amendments (usually chicken manure pellets), and then the third year is onions and carrots without any extra fertility.

It sounds like you need some recipes to test all those onion varieties.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

And some time to cook many versions!

@ahabthecrab

Жыл бұрын

@@REDGardens good point. Wish we were neighbors. I could do the testing. Cooking=Happiness❤️

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

@@ahabthecrab I have passed around samples of all the varieties to 4 neighbours, in exchange for feedback! Should be interesting.

In your last onion vid what size plastic grow bag did you use please

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I think it was 7 or 10 litres

There is a buzz about bunching onions in the house-stead community as they reproduce on their own. These varieties need to over winter in the ground.Harvesting and resowing techniques may vary with each type . The french shallot is one of them and by the look of some of the inside of what you cut open it would seem that the Cipolle di Tropea maybe one of them as it wants to divide. Taste testing onions sound rough. I know my stomach wouldn't be able to handle it. Some varieties are OK raw as they are mild and sweet , such as the red or white skin ones.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Sounds like something I need to try growing.

👍😊👌

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

Tempted to volunteer for the taste test…

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

🙂

After watching your video could I get some advice on what might be the best Long Day Red Onion to try and grow next year

@REDGardens

10 ай бұрын

Over here in Ireland/europe there isn't any distinguishing between short and long day onions, as far as I can tell. And to be honest I don't really know the difference, so can't really give you an answer.

@jeffwindrim975

10 ай бұрын

@@REDGardens Ok thanks I guess I’m just going to have to do a variety planting test of my own to see what grows best. I will let you know my results next year.

@REDGardens

10 ай бұрын

🙂👍@@jeffwindrim975

But how do they taste?!

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Some are quite harsh and others seem a lot sweeter.

Eat those raw onions! Do it for science!!🧅

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Haha!

Taste test ? ;)

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Raw, and baked, and sautéed ...

have grown some onion too this year, they got flower, but i have not seen seeds ...... am i blind or they just tricked me with a lab variety ?

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

I didn't get seeds from the leeks either, not sure why.

Please don't eat raw onions. At least cook them first.

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

Sometimes they are nice raw!

@FireflyOnTheMoon

Жыл бұрын

why?

Great Trial😊

@REDGardens

Жыл бұрын

thanks!