Harvesting Spring Onions

My Spring Onions are almost ready to start pulling. They’ve done very well this year. Last year I had germination issues but this year has been completely different.

Spring Onions are a great crop for a small garden because they don’t need thinning and so you can get lot and lots of plants from a very small area of soil. My crop is in an area about 50cm by 20cm and there are plenty of onions there to pull one or two every day during the next few months.

I didn’t sow them successionally, just all at once back in Spring. And because as I harvest them the ones left in the ground will have more room, so the thinner ones will get bigger as I need them. It’s as if they were made for small gardens!

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15 Comments on “Harvesting Spring Onions”

  1. Spring onions are kinda like magic, I planted some last spring in the greenhouse border and was still eating them come February this year when I was getting ready to plant this years. They just don’t seem to ever die despite the almost complete lack of watering I gave them over the winter… :)

  2. I have always sown mine in fruit punnets and kept them in the greenhouse, they overwinter beautifully and keep indefinitely. A bit slow to get started though.

  3. You can have successional (is that a word?) spring onions if you slice them off at soil level rather than pulling them up. Like leeks, they regrow :)

  4. @mtp

    Really glad to see this. I’m growing some in a 40×40 self-watering container and they’re about the same stage as in your photo. With any luck, mine will be ready soon. Yum.

  5. Oh, I have questions!

    Are these what we call “Scallions” here in the U.S.?

    I assume you planted these from seed. What do the seed packages say, what are they called. Everytime I look for them I am offered “Bunching Onions” which are kind of like scallions but seem stonger in taste, and eventually form little bulbs.
    I really want to grow “scallions” or what some people call “green onions”.

  6. Patricia – yes, scallions in the US are spring onions in the UK.

    MTP – They sound great! I’ve never tried spring onions before, but this has definitely put them on my list for next year. I like the idea of a single sowing…but getting a succession of crops!

  7. Spring onions are great! I garden in a small yard in the states (Virginia) and love to grow them. This year I grew a purple variety that had great flavor and a pleasing, rich color.

  8. Two Sheds – that’s good to know. I have got leeks for the first time this year and was wishing I’d planted more as they are doing well so you have cheered me right up…will try it with my spring onions too….but mine are further behind than these so will have to wait a while yet.

  9. I sowed a batch in a patio pot, which have grown really well due to all the rain. I love the fact they’re so low maintenance.

  10. Yes, I love the fact that you can cram spring onions into a small space. My crop is coming along nicely and are doing well because of the recent rain (it’s been very dry up to now). In fact, as I write this, there’s a massive thunderstorm going on here in North Yorkshire – hope my onions appreciate it!

  11. I wasn’t going to grow spring onions this year but reading about everyone else’s has inspired me to grow a few in a tub; hopefully there’s still enough time to have a few this year!

  12. I have a bunch of spring onions that have been very hardy and survived for years, originally came from a friend and I have passed on some too… I love the purple flowers they produce and the bees love them. I recently cut them back down to the ground so hope for another flush of usable stalks and some more flowers.

  13. I have also had a much better year for spring onions this year. I haven’t done proper successional sowing – just sown in two batches.

  14. You can’t go wrong with these can you, the longer you leave them the better they get!