Onions

Until a few years ago you would never have seen wild garlic on a menu, but these days is definitely a chefs' favourite. The whole plant is edible. The flavour is softer, more pleasant than cloves from garlic bulbs. The leaves have a vibrant colour that brings food to life.

‘Fine-leaved’ chives have a delicious, mild onion flavour. They keep their slender shape and do not get course or tough with age. The narrow linear leaves are snipped and used primarily fresh, stirred into uncooked foods, such as soft cheeses or salads.

These easy to grow chives are one of the famous fines herbes of French cuisine. Easily raised from seed, they are perennial bulbs that spread to form neat tufted clumps, ideal for edging beds and paths. They are particularly attractive when in flower and are a favourite of bees and other pollinating insects.

A relatively new vegetable in the English-speaking world but well-known in Asian cuisine, the flavour of garlic chives is more like garlic than chives, though much milder. Both leaves and the stalks of the flowers are used a stir fry ingredient. The flowers may also be used as a spice.

Leek Musselburgh is named for a coastal market town on the Firth of Forth. Introduced in 1834, it has remained popular ever since. It is extremely hardy and can be picked over winter from December to April when there is little else in the garden. A very hardy leek and a very dependable performer.

Leek Tornado is a very high yielding, open pollinated variety. Carefully chosen to give excellent uniformity, vigour and good disease resistance, particularly to rust. The plants are erect with long shanks and medium green foliage. Ideal for harvesting September to January, after the mid season varieties.

Leek Winter Giant 3 is an extremely hardy leek, it will put up with blistering gales and frost without a pause. Harvest from October to March. The solid, long white stems are exhibition quality with an outstanding flavour.

Leek Zermatt is an early Swiss Giant variety with long shaft and erect foliage. Ready to eat in just 6 to 12 weeks. Sow from March through to May and harvest from July through to October. It has some rust resistance and good storage characteristics.

With outstanding quality and excellent keeping qualities, Ailsa Craig Prizewinner is much loved by both home gardeners and exhibitors producing weighty onions perfect for the kitchen or show bench. A heritage variety and great all-rounder, Ailsa Craig still takes some beating.

Borettana onions are the Italian sports car of onions. Sweet, sleek, and stylish with a wonderful flavour, once a rare treat only to be found at gourmet restaurants. They are a good onion for colder climates, harvested in early autumn they fill the gap between winter-stored onions and the early new ones.

Italy boasts many varieties of onion, but perhaps the most famous is Cipolla di Tropea. It can be sown in either autumn, September to October or in spring, late February to early April. The shape of its bulbs, the deep purple colour, its extraordinary sweetness, and its refined taste, make it one of the most interesting products in the entire Italian agriculture.

Onion 'Globo' has the classic ‘flask’ shape with pale straw skin colour and dark veining, this is an early onion and perfect for the August September shows. Sow maincrop onions March to April outdoors, and thin early. For very large onions sow December to early January and transplant seedlings in spring.

Redmate is an excellent duel purpose variety of onion. It can be harvested early and eaten as a mild salad onion or left to grow. Red bulb onions are mild and the sweetest tasting of all onions and recommended to liven up the salad bowl.

Onion Rijnsburger is an excellent Dutch variety with uniform sized, large globe-shaped bulbs with thin necks. They have a beautiful firm straw coloured skin, pure white flesh and a good flavour. As a standard maincrop it offers excellent quality, high yields and a very good storage life.