Onions

[Sonata]

How do I know when they're ready? Mine are just ones I stuck in the ground because they were sprouting in the veggie bowl so I'm not expecting much..

They're all in bud now, all except the one my daughter decided to behead - do I let them flower?

[Creemteez]

Were they full sized onions when you planted them or little jobs? If they were big ones (about the size of a peach or bigger), then I don't think the bulbs will be very nice as they had grown as much as they were going to. If they are coming into flower, it means they are going to set seed. You could try leaving a few to mature, collect the seed and sow it next year.

[Demeter]

If you want to eat onions, you have to sow seeds / plant sets, you won't get any by planting what's in the kitchen! So I think you've had your chance to eat them, and put them in the ground instead. If it were me, I would let them flower and then you get lovely flowers plus have the option to save seed if you want to. (Actually, I think the flowers may be edible too?)

[snohare]

I concur, let one or two flower - they look really nice and various beasties like them. If you eat them when they are bolting, they usually taste naff.
All my onions this year (and leeks) came from plants last year that flowered and I saved the seed by drying out a flower head inside a paper bag. It is as hard as falling off a log, it needs very little space for a year's crop (I used a single plantpot) and no real need to water much, you just have to watch and not weed the "grass" that springs up.

[Sonata]

Ah ok then, well I was going to keep them there and plant some carrots next to them. I'll let them flower then and make the wee beasties happy...if the sproglet doesn't pull more heads off.

Cool, I'll keep the seeds and that means more sowing! Yippee...