This is your step-by-step onion harvesting and drying guide to keep your onion harvest long into the winter until you can eat them all. To harvest onions correctly and dry them is simple but their is a couple of key things that will ensure success.
Below is the full video tutorial. Be sure to like and subscribe to my channel as it helps me out immensely to reach others like yourself you are interested in preserving their harvest long into the winter.
Gentle When Harvesting
Make sure that you’re gentle with your onions when harvesting. Do not throw them around so that they don’t bruise. A bruised onion will usually rot. I like to use my potato fork for loosening the onions before pulling them. This helps to not rip the top off the onions so I don’t accidentally miss any of them in the soil.
Onions Tell You When They Are Ready To Be Harvested
Look for the tops fallen over on each of the onions and all the greens are starting to dry out and go crispy. This is what you want to see before you start to harvest.
Don’t Wash The Onions
Onion harvesting does is simple. Just brush off as much of the dirt as you can. Do not wash them. They have already started to go papery in the ground and we don’t want to set back the onion drying time by washing them./ This could also lead to potential rot.
Drying Rack
I am using some old screens that came off of windows. You can use any type of rack that will help them to breath well as they dry. Lay them out evenly for good air flow.
Drying Area
You need to keep them out of direct sun. A warm and airy space is perfect. I bring them inside because we’re starting to get some pretty cool nights. We have a lot of humidity outside at night which will not help the onions to dry.
Drying Time
My personal rule of thumb is I will wait until the greens have completely dried. I wait until the outsides will have like a really solid paper he has on them. Typically they are ready in 1-2 weeks depending on house temperature and how much moisture is left in the greens.
Early Eating
You can start to eat your onions right after harvest. You do not need to wait for them to dry out. They can be eaten fresh anytime.
Removing The Dirt
The dirt will come off with the outer layer quite easily once dried properly. Wait until they are fully dry. Remove the dirty outside and they are ready for storage.
Last year, I had onions all the way through, into January before I ate all of them. I did not have one rot beforehand. Be sure to keep any possible bruised ones out of storage and eat those first to prevent spoiling the other onions.
