Planting onions

Earlier this month we planted about 14kg of Sturon brown onion sets by hand in the market garden. They have gone into the section earmarked for this year's courgette patch, because the ground was too wet to work with a tractor out on the field, whereas this area had been covered with black plastic all winter to prevent weed growth (the courgettes are about to go into what was to be the onion patch). So we removed the black plastic, pulled out the few weeds there were, marked out 1m beds, gently hoed or raked them to break up the surface, laid a 5cm layer of greenwaste compost over the top, and planted our onion sets into holes dibbed through a 20x20cm frame.

Preparing the onion beds.

Completed onion beds.

While we were at it, we thoroughly weeded the shallot and red onion beds that we planted earlier in the year, and squeezed some more beds of brown onions in alongside the rhubarb patch. These are all in addition to the overwintering onions out on the field, which now also need a weed, but are looking good, and should be the biggest harvest of overwintering onions we've ever had. They may be ready in June.

Many thanks to all the helpers with planting onions, and to Alsia Cross market garden for donating their leftover sets - we now have our own leftover sets free to a good home if anybody wants any? Please come and ask in the shop, we'd rather they were used than wasted.