This above-ground portion of the plant will eventually form clusters of small onions that be planted or eaten.
Back in the fall of 2015, a friend gave us a handful of small onion bulbs. With them came the suggestion that they’d provide a source of fresh onion if the clusters of tiny little onions that form at the top of the leaves were to be harvested.
It wasn’t until the next spring that we stuck them into the ground, as a bit of an afterthought, next to our black composter. A clump of onions soon sprouted by late summer and did indeed produce the clusters.
The little onions — bulbils to be more accurate — that I harvested were welcome but didn’t amount to much in the first year. It wasn’t until the spring of 2017 that the considerable potential of the plant became apparent.
According to two Canadian suppliers of the allium species, ours was common experience. “It’s a real gardener’s onion; that’s what it is,” Greg Wingate at Mapple Farm near Moncton, New Brunswick, said. “If I was ever reduced to planting one allium species, this would be it.”
The particular Egyptian walking onion line grows to a height of about three feet.
On Canada’s west coast, Marsha Goldberg of Eagleridge Seeds has similar esteem for the onion type. “I’ve been growing them for 20-plus years and they’ve been here on Salt Spring Island for a century or more,” Goldberg said. “They’re ancient. They date back thousands of years to the time of the Pharaohs. They’re probably one of the oldest vegetables on the planet.”
Wingate and Goldberg were speaking of the Egyptian walking onion, a perennial species which is known by several other names including tree onion and top-set onion.
The circular patch I had planted a year before remained green the entire winter and seemed to fold in upon itself. As the weather warmed, the tops returned to their upright position and the plants, including the underground portion, had dramatically increased in size.
According to Cornell University’s website, Egyptian onions originate in the Middle East. Some authorities consider them to be a cross between bulb-type and bunching onions.
They prefer full sun but will tolerate a partially shaded area. Well-drained soil is a must. Mulching with straw or leaves, especially for cold winter months, is a good idea.
Properly managed, they offer the means for small gardeners to move toward onion self-sufficiency. Once established, there’s no need to purchase seed and ramping up the volume is easy.
The bulbils that form on the end of the leaves will root themselves when the leaves are pulled to the ground under their weight. That’s why they’re called “walking” onions. Left to their own devices, they’ll spread.
Alternatively, harvest the bulbils in later summer and move them to a location of your choice like regular onions or move part of the entire clump, roots, leaves and all with some earth attached.
In addition, the underground portion will gradually divide, one onion becoming five or six. These can be dug from the ground. They bear some resemblance to leeks but have a stronger flavour.
We’ve already have a second patch started and so does the neighbour across our back fence.
The underground portion, once peeled, is white. From there the colour gradually shifts to the darker green of the leaves.
When cooking or preparing a salad, I like to include some of the leaf portion. It’s tender and will add colour to whatever dish you’re preparing.
While mild enough to be eaten raw, Egyptian walking onions also deliver on taste.
Goldberg and Wingate see garden-friendly Egyptian onions as a sustainable alternative to energy-rich agricultural production systems.
Goldberg said the species is one of the most adaptive vegetables, and, along with being delicious, it’s tough, capable of dealing with climate change.
Goldberg can be reached through eagleridgeseeds.com. She’s been marketing bulbils for years.
Wingate said he’ll have bulbils available by late August. His contact information is available at mapplefarm.com.
- Jeffrey Carter