By Jannie Vaught

For this gardener, it is the first to plant in January through February and the reason we prepared our soil and it is now ready to receive the starts. Your Local Feed stores have them in now. For our growing area, they are Short Day onions. LLano Feed and Supply in LLano Texas and Mason Feed in Mason Texas have the ones you’re looking for.

Heres a short list as there are many more onions for our area.

The 1015Y and the Granex are the favored, but all short day are good for our 8A to grow zone.

1015Y Texas Super Sweet, yellow, globe-shaped, open-pollinated, size up to 6 inches, storage potential 2 to 3 months. Days to harvest;110-115 developed by Texas A&M. The date for the seed to go in the name of this onion.

Yellow Granex, yellow, semi-flat(a cross between a 015Y and a Bermuda), sweet, hybrid. Size potential up to 5 inches. Storage potential: approximately 1 month. Days to harvest: 100. White Granex s a white version of the Yellow Granex.

Texas Legend, yellow, sweet globe shaped, open-pollinated: size potential 6inches. Storage 3 to 4 months.Days to harvest, 105. The Texas legend has 25 active compounds that inhibit the growth of cancerous cells, helps combat heart disease and stimulated the immune system. Now, that’s a powerful onion! Delicious and Inhibits cancer cells.

White Bermuda, white, flat, sweet, open-pollinated (meaning it is wind pollinated and insect pollinated). Size potential: 3-4 inches. Storage potential: Approximately 2 months. Days to harvest: 98.

For green onions as it produces a nice white, large bulb in just 30 days. Also known as the Crystal Wax. Planting, feeding and all else go to Dixondale Farms they have how-to guides.

Here’s the easy version. In hilled soil-plant, the slip 1 inch deep so a little while still shown. every 6 inches apart, the potential size of the onion when fully ripe. No closer, if you crowd them they will be small so give them some room. Make the row flat and at least 6 to 8 inches wide and 4 inches high make a trench (no onions go in there) between the rows to feed the onions in the trench. A sprinkle of bone meal in the trench and loose crumbly soil is best. I use a dibble, a 2-inch wooden dowel with a pointed end and marked with inches with a Sharpe marker. To plant make a hole, place the onion, measure 6 inches, make another hole tamp down gently. I wait for 30 days to feed, but follow directions.

I place in the trench, compost tea and a layer of composted hay/straw that I finished compost. keep them damp and remember they like the sun. If the frost temperatures get below 32 a little cover over them will keep them warmer and growing.

January to do list: is also time to plant Carrots, Beets direct seeding. Spinach, lettuces and swiss chard. Mid-January is 6 weeks back from our last frost date. And you can start your indoor tomatoes and peppers inside under lights.

Well, its cold outside but bundle up and do some gardening. Time for onions!

Growing green with Jannie