How to Keep Home Grown Onions

A home grown onion crop can sometimes yield more onions than you know what to do with. If this is the case, you need to keep them fresh until you need to use them. The key to keeping onions fresh is to prevent them from touching, as that can cause them to bruise and rot. Before storing your onions, examine them to be sure that they are dry, have no bruises and have not begun to sprout. If this has happened with any of your onions, use those in recipes right away, or chop them up and freeze the onion chunks. To keep healthy, harvested onions for up to a year, try the stocking or tinfoil method.

Things You'll Need

• Nylon stockings
• Twist ties
• Tinfoil

Instructions

Stocking Method

1. Cut the excess onion tops, leaving only 1/2 to one inch on the onion.

2. Take a single stocking and drop an onion down into the bottom of it.

3. Tie a twist tie right above the onion, and drop another onion down into the stocking.

4. Continue with this method until the stocking is full. When you need an onion, simply cut one off the bottom of the stocking and work your way up the stocking as you need more.

5. Hang the stocking in a cool, dry place where the temperature stays around 40 degrees. If you do not have a cool area to store the onions, keep them in the refrigerator with the foil method.

Foil Method

1. Cut the tops off the onion.

2. Cut a square piece of tinfoil and wrap it around the the onion.

3. Repeat this process until all onions are covered, and store the foil covered onions in the refrigerator. Foil wrapped onions can be stored for up to one year in the fridge.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have room, you can store the onions on a window screen that is set up with two inch blocks under each corner. Just be sure they are not touching each other on the screen, and they are in an area that has average 40 degree temperatures.

• Never wash your onions before storage, as excess moisture can cause rot.

References

• Texas A&M University Extension: Onions
• National Gardening Association: Preserving Onions