The White Lisbon is an old favorite and ever popular Spring Onion. It is a hardy and reliable variety which features long white stems with bright green tops. It is quick and easy to grow, cropping in 60 days.

Although, traditionally the most popular Spring Onion for successional sowings from March to September, it can also be sown in autumn and over wintered for early spring harvests.

Indispensable for a decent salad, with silvery skin and mild flavour it is delicious when young and takes on a more pungent flavour as the bulbs swell.

• NIAB accreditation - National Institute of Agricultural Botany.
• Awarded the RHS AGM – Award of Garden Merit

This seed is organically produced (seed harvested from plants that have themselves been raised organically, without the use of chemicals) and has been certified by The Soil Association.
Soil Association Certification provides organic certification of the highest integrity to all sectors of the organic market, so you can be assured of its authenticity.

Preparation:
Choose an open, sunny site with good drainage which has preferably been dug and manured in the previous autumn. Do not plant or sow on freshly manured bed. Lime if the soil is acid. Avoid planting in an area where the previous crop was of the onion family. Many exhibitors grow their show onions in a permanent bed in order to build up fertility, but in the kitchen plot it is a much better idea to change the site annually.
Apply a general fertilizer if needed and rake the surface when the soil is reasonably dry. Tread over the area and then rake again to produce a fine, even tilth.

Timing:
Sow in Autumn or Late Winter to Spring
Seeds can be sown direct in autumn to be harvested in 46 weeks to produce large bulbs (not advisable in very cold areas) Otherwise sow in February under cloches or direct March to April and harvest in 22 weeks. In cold areas and for exhibition bulbs sow under glass in January, harden off in March and transplant outdoors in April.

Sowing:
Sow very thinly in 1.2cm (½ inch) deep drills, leaving about 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches) between rows. Water very gently if the soil is dry, and cover with soil.
When large enough to handle, thin the crop in two stages. Close spacing will give smaller onions than wider spacings. Lift the seedlings carefully – the soil should be moist and all thinnings removed to deter onion fly. (They may be used as spring onions)

Thin Spring-sown seedlings first to 2.5cm (1 inch) then when the seedlings have straightened up to 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) apart.
Thin Autumn sown onion seedlings to about 2.5cm (1 inch) in the autumn. Further thin to about 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) between plants in the Spring.
Seedlings raised under glass should be transplanted 4in (10cm) apart, leaving 9in (23cm) between the rows. The roots must fall vertically in the planting hole and the bulb base should be about ½ in (1cm) below the surface. Plant firmly.

Aftercare:
Hoe carefully or weed by hand – dense weed growth will seriously affect yield. Water if the weather is dry (not otherwise) and feed occasionally. Feed an autumn-sown crop in March. Mulching is useful for cutting down the need for water and for suppressing weeds. Break off any flower stems which appear. Stop watering once the onions have swollen and pull back the covering earth or mulch to expose the bulb surface to the sun.

Harvesting:
When the bulb is mature the foliage turns yellow and topples over. (Some gardeners bend over the tops as the leaves start to yellow). Leave them for about 2 weeks and then carefully lift with a fork on a dry day.

Storing:
Inspect the bulbs carefully – all damaged, soft, spotted and thick-necked onions should be set aside for kitchen use or freezing. The rest can be stored.
The onions which are not for immediate use must be thoroughly dried. Spread out the bulbs on sacking or in trays – outdoors if the weather is warm and sunny.
Drying will take 7 to 21 days, depending on the size of the bulbs and the air temperature..
Store in trays, net bags, tights or tie to a length of cord as onion ropes.
Choose a cool and well-lit place; they will keep until late spring

Natural Dyes:
The the skin of a white onion will give shades of orange while the skin of the red onion can be used to create a medium green, slightly lighter than forest green.

How to slice an onion without crying:
Freeze the onion for ten minutes before cutting. The sulphuric compound that leads to tears will not react as quickly when it’s cold. If you forget, just light a candle, as a burning flame can burn away the sulphuric fumes.

Other Uses:
If you have just painted a room and the fumes are a little overwhelming, slice an onion in half and place it in a bucket of cold water. Leave the bucket in the room overnight. The fumes will magically disappear (or a least be reduced a fair bit).