Our Onion Story

Onions are a larder staple in our house, almost everything I cook begins life with chopped onions and garlic before herbs and spices transform it into the dish of the day. However, it has not always been like this. As a child I hated onions, to me they were slimy vegetables which had no place whatsoever on my plate and I would spend hours picking each minuscule piece out of my dinners. Nowadays they are the first vegetable (along with garlic) we plan on planting despite the fact that we often had mixed success. This year we decided on trialing a few different planting regimes to see what really suited our environment and where we were most likely to succeed.

Way back in Februrary our onions arrived, Hercules, Centurion, Sturon and Golden Gourmet Shallots, a selection which we hoped would give us a mix which would grow and store well. We aimed to utilize the baths and the main veg bed and although we didn't have enough space to cover all combinations, our mini (rather unscientific) experiment was planned as:

Bath One: Planted directly with no fertiliser

Bath Two: Planted directly, fertilised with chicken manure pellets 2016

Veg Bed: Sets started in plugs, well rotted horse manure 2016.

March

Using all our varieties of onions, the baths were planted directly on the 9th March. M made me some chicken wire protectors to stop the birds pulling the bulbs out before they got established.

The rest of the bulbs were planted in cells on th 16th March and put in the greenhouse for a few weeks to get a head start before being planted out into the main veg bed.

April

     

By the start of April we could see some little green shoots beginning to emerge from the onions in the baths.

The plugs in the greenhouse had grown well and were ready to go out to the veg bed.

A couple of days later that was all the onions planted out and labelled. The soil had been covered with black plastic to try to warm it a little and for extra protection we put cloches over the onions until the risk of frost had diminished.

July

Bath One

By the start of July the onions were growing well and it was becoming noticeable how the addition of fertiliser was affecting the growth in the baths.

Bath Two

The onions in bath two were looking a lot healthier than those in bath one which had no fertiliser added.

We were also left in no doubt that the best looking of the onions were those in the main veg bed. The start they had in compost cells in the greenhouse had obviously ensured that they already had a root system before going into the ground. The horse manure from last year was likely to have helped to produce these large and healthy plants.

August

       

Bath One                                      Bath Two

At the beginning of August the onions in the baths started to look like they had finished growing and as the leaves were dying off we decided to take advantage of a sunny day and lift them.

       

Bath One                                    Bath Two

It's possible to see there is a slight size difference in the onions, although it also seemed as though we may have planted them too close together for them to reach their optimum growth.

       

Regardless of the poorly looking onions in the baths, the ones in the veg bed were amazing. They were definitely the biggest onions we had ever grown and were showing no signs of slowing down well into August.

Bath One

We were able to compare the onions from the baths first, with Hercules, Centurion and Struon from left to right. As the shallots were a complete disaster it seemed a waste of time to even try to compare them.

Bath Two

I think overall the onions from bath two (with chicken manure pellets) were slightly better than bath one. Given the obvious difference in healthy leaf growth I would have expected there to have been more of a size difference. On the bright side they were a good crop with no apparent insect damage or mold.

September

       

It was some weeks later that we finally managed to lift the last crop of onions from the veg bed. There was still a little green on the shoots but the nights were getting colder and we wanted them out of the ground before the first frosts arrived.

       

We were pretty pleased with our harvest this year.

As we were getting ready for the final comparison we realised we had a problem. Although our crops had not been affected by birds our labels had been pulled out, which basically meant we had no idea which onion was which variety. After a bit of guesswork I lined up what I thought to be Hercules, Centurion and Sturon. By this time I wasn't too bothered as I think the mini experiment had thrown up some interesting lessons.

1. For the best results, onions need to be sown in sets and put in the greenhouse for a few weeks before being planted out.

2. Fertiliser helps a lot be it chicken or horse.

3. More space between the onions in the baths would encourage larger veg.

4. Label carefully and make a note of what is planted where in case the birds nick the labels again.

It wasn't a particularly scientific approach to gardening, we'll refine it again next year and who knows maybe at some point we'll hit on the ideal position and environment for our onions. In the meantime we just need to get them dried so we can store as much as possible.

Renovations

Yay, (lots of excited jumping up and down) I can hardly believe it, we have finally finished the living room make over and at last I can share a few before, during and after photos with you.

You may remember the long saga of our kitchen makeover last year, that 3 week project which turned into 13 weeks. Well, it's taken us a while to muster up the energy to take on another room but we've done it. After much procrastination and indecision about what to do next we put the bathroom on hold and focused on the living room. The kick start we needed was when we sent our furniture away to get reupholstered and had lots of space to get on with things. So here we go, be prepared for more than just a couple of pics!

The living room was quite a mishmash of stuff, the bookcases were left by the previous owners and when we moved in we had deposited some random and mismatched furniture in here. Once the settees had gone there was more space but still a lot of stuff to move.

We jammed a lot in with no real organisation but hoped we could put that right when we redecorated. The room is a bit of a weird layout in that it has 3 doors leading off it, one to the hall, one to the craft room and the last to the kitchen.

M had been desperate to get rid of this 70s/80s brick fireplace so once all the room was cleared it was the first thing to go. It was a strange shape, not very tall but very wide. The wood burner is great, it's really efficient and producesd a lot of heat so it was definitely staying.

The whole fireplace was quite dominant in the room, the wooden surround took up a lot of space and to be honest I think it was the wrong shape for the room - it always seemed a bit out of proportion.

After consultation with a professional (just in case it all came tumbling down) M removed the non supporting bricks at the back and the floor tiles to reveal quite a deep fire place. This was as far as we got on the fireplace at this stage while we waited for a couple of quotes for a hearth, back-plate, mantelpiece etc. 

       

So in the meantime M tackled the external wall, after removing the woodwork around the window he found the original shutters. We were pretty thrilled to discover these although they were in obvious need of some refurbishment and TLC. 

Once the shutters were taken down M got stuck into removing the plasterboard and what little insulation there was to reveal the old thick stone walls.

A great job by M to baton the walls and install some new warm insulation to keep us toasty in the winter. No more stuffing material under the skirting boards to keep out the draughts!!

Next came the fresh new plasterboard sheets to replace the old tatty ones M ripped off.

Despite M's amazing diy skills it was time to get the professionals in to do the plastering, now all we had to do was be patient and wait for it to dry.

The ceiling was stuccoed plaster so while the walls were being plastered we decided to get the chaps to rub it down and skim the ceiling at the same time. It's funny how this darker colour gave us the idea of painting the ceiling a darker colour than our usual white. (I'm just not sure if we'd brave enough - maybe next time!)

While the plastered ceiling and wall were drying it was time to return to the fireplace to prepare it for the fireplace man. Unfortunately we had to remove some of the old plaster to remove the old heating pipes and to see if we could find the lintel. At least the plasterer had already been booked to come back to plaster around the fire.

When the fire was removed it revealed the old and very large mucky fireplace, still, it could only get better - right? With the decisions on the fireplace made we merely had to wait for the hearth and mantelpiece to be made and delivered.

While we waited for progress on the fireplace M spent many hours removing years of paint from the shutters and then staining them. We are so pleased with the result, they look wonderful, rustic and homely all in one.

The settees returned, they are brown with gold and red flecks although they look almost grey in the photos. Such an amazing job, they definitely have been given a new lease of life.

Finn was especially happy to see the return of 'his' settee 

This is the chair which formed part of the settee set but as we decided to go for a completely different cover and colour scheme, it's not destined for the living room.

With the back of the fireplace boarded and painted, the hearth in (under the newspaper and the wall re plastered it felt like we were getting somewhere now.

In a bid to step away from our usual comfort zone of Magnolia we selected a orangey/terracotta colour. As M started the painting we were beginning to have second thoughts as the doubts crept in. 

However, once the walls were covered we loved the colour, it looks quite dark above but it is a really warm colour and does not close the room in as we had feared.

Wow, when the fireplace was finished we really felt that the room was starting to come back to life. 

After another few weeks of waiting for flooring quotes we eventually got there, oak effect laminate which should be easy to keep clean with 2 black labs running around. 

This was a major milestone as we could start to move things back in again in a bid to return some form of normality to the rest of the house. 

A work in progress with new plug sockets too 

The settees were in; it was incredible how much bigger the room appeared without the old imposing fireplace and with the electric piano moved out. The newly painted white doors also made a massive difference to the light in the room and was well worth the hours M spent on them. 

A few ornaments in place 

The bookcases returned to the fiction corner

With the tv in and a few pictures back up we were nearly there 

       

The final touch was to find a suitable ceiling light. Following a very long search where we flipflopped between contemporary and modern we came across this rather eccentric light. It is from IKEA, white on the outside with a copper coloured finish in the inside. It took a little bit of time to construct it but it looks great. The best part is that it opens out a bit like a transformer to increase the light in the room and we absolutely love it.

It looks even better at night, the patterns on the ceiling are really unusual.

       

After nearly 3 months (yes nearly as long as the kitchen but a lot less stressful) we are delighted with the room; it is gorgeous and feels like a proper grown up living room. Now the big question is which room is next for a makeover? Or perhaps we need a little rest before that, enjoying a clean and almost dust free house for a while.