Have I harvested my onions too early ??

[Twinkle]

Planted Setton onion sets in March and they've done beautifully and reached a good size.
Some of them are starting to bolt now and look a bit thick around the neck, PLUS Ireland's been forecast for a lot of rain in the next few weeks....

so

I thought rather than wait for the tops to go brown and fall over as I usually do, that I'd bring them into the big shed and dry them artificially for a month before plaiting them

Now looking on the web, I can't find anything about this - all the sites say "wait for the tops to turn brown" and I'm now panicking that I've made a gigantic cock-up.

Any advice

Feel free to laugh at me.........

[Flummery]

Not laughing at all. It is usual to wait till they start to 'ripen' of their own accord but you can hasten this process by lifting them up a little with a garden fork. This loosens the soil round the root and they stop growing and start to dry up a bit. Some people deliberately bend the stem over (this way it looks neat - you can bend them all to one side on one row, the other side the next etc.)

I tend to leave nature to take its course. As you have already lifted them they will start to dry by themselves. Yyou can spread them out onto newspaper in the shed and leave them to it. Keep checking them over - you don't want them to rot. They should be ok. Don't plait them until they are completely dry or you'll get rot and mould setting in. Good luck!

[Twinkle]

thanks Flummery

I've made a massive net "hammock" in the shed roof and put them in that to dry out completely.

I had to laugh at the bit in the book that says "lay them out in the sun for a few days" - the author clearly didn't live in Ireland !!

[Pieman]

I had to laugh at the bit in the book that says "lay them out in the sun for a few days" - the author clearly didn't live in Ireland !!

Or to be honest Most of the UK lately!!!!!