All year Alliums Challenge 2016/17

[Snoop Puss]

OK. I'm up for it. I grow plenty of leeks for winter use and calçots (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal%C3%A7ot), so that's winter pretty well covered.

I'm never very good at getting overwintering onions in the ground in time, but will make a special effort this year.

They will be followed by Figueres onions in the summer, with Moradas de Amposta and shallots for storage.

Figueres (or Figueras) are pinkish and lovely to cook with but only store for a few months, whereas the Moradas de Amposta are much darker in hue (though not quite a red onion) and will store better till the overwintering ones are of a usable size.

So long as I get my act together for the overwintering onions, I should be able to manage this.

Good luck everyone.

[muddled]

Bah, no where has cha cha chives for sale.

Ordered some Ramson bulbs as the seeds might take too long to bulk up to harvest in February. Will still grow from seed as I want to have a decent patch under the hedge for the hungry gap.

Ordered some three cornered leeks and some nodding onion seeds.

Saw Nodding Chives but these turned out to be Nodding Onions.

Now on the look out for mouse garlic.

Oh! My!
I'm off for a google......

[muddled]

Jay-ell, where are you getting this stuff from?

Apart from the ones I've never heard of (but now I've googled and they look fantastic!) I would dearly love to grow ramsoms in my garden!

[Jay-ell]

Still haven't found cha cha chives or mouse garlic but I've discovered the existence of

• Siberian Chives
• German Garlic
• Multiplier leeks (only tantalising mentions from Australia though - suspect that it's elephant garlic)
• Hookers Onion
• Many-Flowered garlic (Allium polyanthum) which may possibly have a use as a perrenial leek

Plants for A Future website list loads of edible alliums
Allium Species - the Perennial Onions

The ramsons I got from

Wild Garlic Ramsons Allium Ursinum - Allium Bulbs

A lot of the edible alliums are available as spring bulbs or ornamental bedding plants because of the flowers.

[Jay-ell]

Today I've sown 55 three cornered leek bulbs into a trough, 50 elephant garlic corms into 2 large pots, 3 elephant garlic rounds into another large pot, 2 quarter trays of Elefant leeks, 2 quarter trays of Ailsa Craig with a sow by date of last year, 4 quarter trays each of garlic chives, Welsh onions and red welsh onions. I've also sown a parch of White Lisbon.

I'm off to trim my chives and I'll pot them up later on in the week.

Just waiting for a few bulbs/seeds to come through the post to do the rest. The bulbs probably won't come until September.

Perhaps I should have asked this earlier - can the same variety be picked more than one week? Would make it a lot easier

[veggiechicken]

Perhaps I should have asked this earlier - can the same variety be picked more than one week? Would make it a lot easier

You're probably the only who has a chance of picking 52 different alliums in a year
I'm hoping to pick an allium every week - any sort and it may be the same as the week before if I'm pushed

BTW watch the 3 cornered leeks as they spread like mad. My cliff garden is overrun with them. They're very versatile though. Make great spring onions. I have some photos somewhere.............

EDIT Found them...............http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...lic_64372.html

[Snoop Puss]

Three-cornered leek is native to the Mediterranean according to Wikipedia. I've never seen it. Maybe it's too dry here. I shall have to keep an eye out.

[Jay-ell]

Three cornered leek seeds have an oily tip which ants are supposed to like. They take the whole seed, strip off the oil and then dump the seeds - right on a pile of ants frass.

Seeds get spread and a pile of fertiliser thrown in to boot.

[Jay-ell]

You're probably the only who has a chance of picking 52 different alliums in a year

Even if we counted leaves, bulbs and flowers as separate crops I wouldn't have enough varieties - yet.

I've neglected the chives at the back lately and they were straggly, yellowing and in need of a haircut



Need to dig them up and move them either to the front to finish the chive hedge or to pots to put in the GH for winter grazing.

Hard to believe I started off with a little clump last year - I've probably got enough to have a pot a week for a whole year - bulbs and all.

[Jay-ell]

Bought a tray of leeks,
Got a delivery
and counted my alliums

I'm getting closer to one variety a week.

[veggiechicken]

Like the Blog, Jason
Have you seen the PFAF list of alliums?
Allium Species - the Perennial Onions
and at the bottom of Allium carinatum Keeled Garlic PFAF Plant Database

Don't want you to miss any alliums from your collection

[Jay-ell]

Like the Blog, Jason
Have you seen the PFAF list of alliums?
Allium Species - the Perennial Onions
and at the bottom of Allium carinatum Keeled Garlic PFAF Plant Database

Don't want you to miss any alliums from your collection

I think I posted a link to the PFAF page earlier. I'm up to 41 alliums NOT INCLUDING my wish list.
That's far too much typing to list that.

By the way did you have potato onions? How do they differ from shallots?

[veggiechicken]

I had some potato onions a few years ago but they didn't do much although, was it Trip, likes them!

[Jay-ell]

Today I planted out the leeks, few-flowered leek, Many-Flowered garlic, Hookers chives, Black Isle Chives and Babington Leeks.

The chive hedge is coming on nicely as are the 3 pots of chives.

The Red Welsh Onion seeds have sprouted well as have the Elefant leeks and White Lisbon. The white Welsh Onions have a couple of seeds sprouted but are lagging behind their cousins quite a bit.

My three-cornered leeks have started to poke through the soil.

The walking onion bulbils I have in a pot in the greenhouse are doing well.

My Musselburgh leeks are doing well and the Japanese onion seed sprouted.

[veggiechicken]

Some of my seeds sown 21st August have emerged - though I can't remember what
I have 2 pots of garlic chives waiting to be split and planted out.
All of this year's onions have been strung and I've eaten some this week in a white sauce with mushrooms, carrots and runner beans.
Eyewatering onions