what to do with onions

How elegant!!

You know I really don't remember what the goats milk tasted like I was so little. I have a very vague memory of what the fresh cow's milk tasted like and that was sweet. Mummy used to let it set for a while and the cream would rise to the top and she'd skim it off and that tasted like heaven. Run nothing, those suckers would sprint across the yard with me skinny as a rail after them with their necks waving in the air and their wings just a flapping. After I caught them I'd get to pluck them and then Mummy would disembowel them, wash them good and in the pot they'd go and in the tub I went. We actually thought it was fun, us kids did, and couldn't wait for chicken killing day.

Turtle soup? Yep. We would catch snapping turtles and Mummy would take them to the bottom of the yard by the brook and lop their heads off with an ax. One time she was carrying one down by its tail and one of our collie puppies got too close and it clamped down on its nose. The old guys used to say they wouldn't let go until it thundered. Well that turtle didn't have the chance to hear the thunder. The puppy was screaming, us kids were screaming(I think every kid in the neighbourhood was there) and that old turtle was hanging on. Mummy dropped the turtle and picked up a stick and jammed it in the turtles mouth and tried to pry it open but the stick broke and before it could blink that ax went slicing through the air and that was that. The puppy took off with the head still clamped on its nose. Us kids chased it down and Mummy got it off. The next time we had a turtle that dog was nowhere to be seen.

This was long before I learned about keeping kosher and all, but I still have the memories, like thinking I had a handful of raisins when it was sheep poop, but that's for another rainy day.

L-rd I wish I could raise my kids in the country. Everymorning when you wake up with the sun and the birds and the smells you know, you just KNOW that G-d is there because you can feel him and life means something because everyday you see it begin and you see it end. You don't get that here in the 'burbs. All you get is stale tasteless chicken and lung cancer from your neighbours gas mower.

I am very Blessed , I do live in the country but I was raised an inner city girl in Indianapolis . I married my husband who is and has been a country farm boy alll his life . they didn't have chickens , cows and pigs mostly. I have been a country girl now for over 30 years and dont think I can ever go back to city life. It is so funny my family all are city folk and they cant understand how I like living in the Boonies as they call it, with no stores close by or any thing to do . I laugh because there is plenty to do, planting, canning, it is so funny we had a party here a few years back and there was an ambulance come by folks couldn't understand why we made such a big deal out of it because they see them all the time. But out here it is a big deal cause you know that when you see one it is going to some one you know and we care about each other. every time I see a sunset or see the deer in the fields I am reminded about how much God loves us to have created such a beautiful world. Ps I was and still am scared to death of snapping turtles dont mind snakes at all but those turtles are mean!!

OMG! Snakes!!!!!! I loath the things. I'm terrified of them. I'd rather walk naked down the centre line of the beltway during rush hour than have to deal with a snake.

See My fear is mice and the snakes eat the mice so they are my pals. that doesnt mean I am going to have one as a pet but I try not to kill them but sometimes my dog or the mower does get a hold of them.

Please send any unwanted snakes to me! I don't think one can ever have enough snakes. Wish I had some to eat the voles that keep eating my vegetables.

Here, snakey, snakey, snakey mommy has a nice juicy mouse for you.

Edited for spelling!

This message was edited Mar 16, 2011 10:30 AM

You are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo wrong for that! ♥

I wish snakes could read. I would put up a "Welcome" sign! They gotta live somewhere :)

I agree they really are good to have around the garden , all I do is shake the rake or hole around on the ground so they know I am there . I might not like them as much if I got bit so I try to take precautions so I wont , now I must point out the snakes I have around here are mostly garder or rat snakes a few water snakes but nothing poisionus . I might be more leary if they were poisonus . I have a big garder snake around my house that lives under my air contitioner he has been around for a few years he dont bother us and I let him sun in my rock garden . if it gets in my way or i disturb it he just slowly slithers away .I have a black snake out in my garden too but he has startled me a few times he is not so easy to spot in the plants and he moves very quickly .

hummingtammy - it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who can co-exist with snakes.

What a wonderful thread, and I'm obsessing at how tasty the leeks in pastry must be. A link to a recipe would be appreciated.
I'm in the burbs but fortunately the HOA is not uptight about gardens, I'm redoing my neglected garden and putting in lots of yummy veggies including 1015 onions, but so far no leeks.

Honeybee, I love my snakes. I wish I had more, but between the dogs, the cats, and the chickens, they have a perilous life around here. I have tried to save several, but don't know if i succeeded. I especially love corn and king snakes. I'm not thrilled with the poisonous ones, but They don't like me any better. And that's probably why I like the kings.

catmad - snakes can have a happy home at my place, as we have no cats or chickens. I don't think our little dog would bother them. I just wish a few would move in - we have free voles and slugs for them to feast on.

As to the poisonous ones - I'll have to let y'all know if they scare me if I ever run across one. LOL

I've been following this colorful thread with much interest, y'all are a hoot!!! Would love a leek and pastry recipe if anyone has a link. I've started some 1015 onions and have no leeks but I may see if I can find some local after reading this thread :)

Honeybee and Catmad, I have a black lab ,he likes to pester my garder snakes infact I have some great pictures of the snake striking at him . its funny he wont bother it all if I am not out there but if its there and I am around he has to harras it. My husband says he is trying to protect me , Yea right, I love him to death but I think he is jealous of the snake.[ I am talking about my dog not my husband being jealous] I was playing with my grandson and his teddybear one day we were putting it to sleep my grandson was using my dog Joes' dog bed to put teddy to bed. ,teddy disapeered I found it a few days later chewed up in the barn lot. , but to get back to the snakes, he learned his lesson with the black snake, I think he got bit. I wish I could get him to kill mice instead of using them for playtoys . I HATE MICE!!!
Lucille, glad to hear from you, I too think leeks in pastry sounds wonderful, if you do find some recipes please pass them a long . I have not seen the 1015 onions let me know how they do . I love DG where else can you talk about onions ,leeks , turtles and snakes all in the same thread!

hummingtammy - I hate mice, too! Although I try to tell myself they must have their place in the overall scheme of things.

It's getting warmer by the day here, so I'm hoping a snake or two will come out of hibernation soon and eat the voles.

Honeybee, what is a vole ?I wonder if we have them but maybe we call them by a diffrent name. I love it when the snakes come out cause I know spring is here and cold weather is gone .

hummingtammy - A vole is a field mouse. They tunnel underground and eat the roots of plants. I have found they are especially fond of soybeans and green bean roots. Once the sweet potatoes get established, they gnaw some of them down to nubs. Most of my asparagus died this past winter, and I suspect voles ate the roots because I found several tunnels in the bed. A couple tried to winter over in my house, and destroyed two expensive jackets before I knew they were here. Mouse traps took care of them!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole

Oh I hate it when they get in the house , I had them this witer too it is almost impossible to stop them from coming in. Thank the lord for mouse traps!!

Should I be very thankful I have cats. I don't have mice and I'd come unglued if i saw a vole in the house.
The only snake in my house was one the cats wanted to share with me.
Vickie

Vickie, i would love to have cats we can't have any in the house because of my sons allergies . We tried having them out side and they do real good as long as they stay close to the house or even on our property the trouble comes when they start to roam , they never come back. we use to have a lot of cats in this area but the coyote population has grown so much that we dont have any cats around now unless they are house cats. we dont have hardly any rabbits now either. My neighbor seen a coyote get her big tom out in the field.

My cats bring in the ocasional vole, they're mouse-like, but have shorter tails, and are a bit different overall.
Yeah, Coyotes consider cats a delicacy. Shudder....

We have an occasional coyote come around. I think my dogs may keep them away. I've noticed when my dogs bark, the cats all come running in the house. So i guess they don't stray too far. We're at the end of a forest service road.

On the news last night it said an Egyptian Cobra had escaped it's enclousure at the Bronx Zoo. Now, there's one snake I would NOT like to come across in the garden!

oh that sends shivers down my back , I always thought that it would be scary living in India because those snakes have a nasty temper. If I ran a crossed one in my garden I would die of a heart attack before it had a chance to bite me. If I lived in the Bronz
I would be calling pet stores looking for a mongose!!!

I'm with you Humming Tammy. I wish theyed find that snake.It.s bad enough having those big boas in Florida.If i ever saw one in a tree,I'd die on the spot.
Vickie

This winter I had the occasion to go out into my not-yet-cleaned-up-for-four-years plant shed and what did I almost put my hand on but a snake skin -- I ran back to the house, as if it was still inhabited! omg

Sooooo, having not gone back in there all winter, I asked my husband a couple of weeks ago to help me 'clean it up a bit and organize it' (ahem). I says to him 'oh hey, since you're in here, would you mind disposing of that poor snake's winter coat?'

Ok here's where it gets worse.... He starts gathering it up, working hard to keep it intact (Lord, I wish he hadn't)... that thing had to have been at LEAST 7' long! I almost fainted. He's half-laughing at me "good grief woman, it's the SKIN... not the snake!"

and then it can only get better from here.....
"... and if you're lucky, he's still in here somewhere... "

thud

Poor Cajun :(. I side with your husband on the luck part, but sympathize with you. I like snakes, but coming upon them unexpectedly can make me jump significantly. I know it won't help to tell you that it is in all probability a "good" snake....

When I found a snake skin in our lean-to, I said to myself: "Great - now I know there's a snake around here somewhere to take care of the voles."

well, i KNOW that... in my MIND... but dadgum it... like you said, i didn't relish coming up on him unexpectedly. esp. knowing he/she is at least 7' long!!!

HOWEVER, i grew up in the country, at the lake, and i have seen literally hundreds of them, even come up on them. i KNOW a good snake from a bad snake, and i totally and wholly agree that the ones we likely see are most ALL beneficial, and i'm thankful.

i can't STAND what the moles and voles DO to my yard and garden!
anything to help take 'em out is a GOOD thing!!!!!
AND... i have NEVER had mice or rats in my house, thanks to my slithering buddies *shudder* *g*

ohhhhh and on the subject of ONIONS... (sorry HummingTammy! for taking over your thread to snake talk)

since i've been gardening, i'm mostly grown ornamentals and herbs. everything else is strictly a learning process. i WANT some sweet onions!

i bought a bunch of Texas Sweet Onion sets the other day and want to start them.
i know NOTHING about growing onions ~ esp from onion sets, which seemed the easiest way for this beginner veggie gardener.

water, fertilizer, sun... check.

1. how deeply do i plant them?
2. how far apart?

Cajun2 - Here's my "rule-of-thumb" for how far apart to set onions: If I expect and onion to grow to four inches, I leave a little over four inches between the onion-sets.

As to to how deep: If the sets have already sprouted (have some green stem) put the little bulb in the ground level to where the green part is. If there is no green stem, put them about an inch or so below ground. It really depends on how big your sets are. I don't grow large sweet onions, so I never plant mine very deep.

Well and duh... everything you said sounds like common sense.
Since I've never grown them, I'm not 100% how large they're supposed to get, so I might allow them a little more room, just in case

I was reading on another thread that there's something that can make your sweet onion end up HOT and forget now what that is.

I hate to trump your snakeskin story, but I thought that only happened to me.

My family had evacuated to East Texas during hurricane Rita. We went to an elderly Aunt's fully furnished home (except for the bed frames which she had taken with her to live with her elderly sister nearby). But, for some reason, all the mattresses and boxsprings were left in the bedrooms on the floor, which is where we slept. There was also a 3-room tent on the lawn outside, which became a lifesaver.

One evening, I went into the bathroom, and the toilet bowl was about to overflow. So, I quickly stooped down to shut off the water, and there, wrapped around the plumbing pipes was -- you guessed it -- an empty snakeskin that I almost put my hand on! Well, I'm thinking like you: "where there's a snakeskin there's a snake!"

So, I walk into the kitche where everyone was gathered with what've been a look of terror on my face, 'cause my nephew asked if I was alright. Upon which I glanced toward my sister,who's terrified of snakes, cause I don't wanna send her into a panic. But, she caught the look and asked me what it was, and, 'of course I'm not gonna say, "there's an empty snakeskin in the bathroom!"

So, my nephew and her husband go to investigate and they come out with this look of terror on their faces, too. Like Cajun's DH, they had unwrapped it, and I guess the length was rather impressive...

Now, Cajun had the opportunity to LEAVE her shed and go back into the safety of her house. Did I not mention that this snakeskin was found INSIDE the house? And, that we were all sleeping on the mattresses on the floor of the house?
We were stranded in East Texas for 6 days because we couldn't get any gas. I stayed up without sleep for the next two nights in a row. When I couldn't keep my eyes open any more, I went to live in the tent on the lawn!

Now, here's the really creepy part...

At what point did that snake crawl into the house, wrap itself around the back of the toilet, and stay there long enough to shed that skin undetected, all while the old FEEBLE-SIGHTED Auntie was still in the house??!!!!

I thought someone somewhere said too much sulphur in the soil makes sweet onions hot. There's another 'onion' thread around here, maybe that's were I read it.

Gymgirl - if it had been me, I would have wondered what the snake was eating in the house that had made it fat enough to need to shed it's skin. Then I would have gone on a mouse hunt!

Snakes need a rough surfact to help them remove their old skin which is probably why it chose the pipe.

I'm glad you survived both the snake skin encounter and hurricane :)

Cajun2, "Since I've never grown them, I'm not 100% how large they're supposed to get,..."

Those Texas Sweets (or are they Texas Supersweets?) will easily get 4" across in good soil. If you're going for bulbs I'd do as Honeybee suggested, set out at 4" inches or more apart. If you like green onions/tops also set them 2" apart and pull every other one for green onions and leaving space for the others to grow into bulbs.

As for the "heat" in an onion, there are some onions that contain high-sulfur genes and will naturally be hotter/spicier than others. Texas Supersweets are not one of them. The best you would want to do is not let them go into a dry period (with any type of onion) as that will stimulate more of the sulfur compounds, increasing pungency/heat, etc.

Shoe (sorry to get "off topic of the off topic", snakes) :>)

ok now please tell me if I got this straight , is it how deep you plant the onion that decides how big it will grow? also this is more to curb my curiosity , we have alot of wild onions around our place aer they edible and if left to grow to the get regular size ?

oh My gosh I would more than likely wet myself if I ever came upon one of those Florida boas , I like our comon snakes, but I am not at all comfortable with ones that are inported . Boas and the gators are the only reason I would be very picky about were I go in Florida . I would have to agree if I found a 7 foot snake skin I would be a bit nervous and I dont think it would matter how big the skin was if I found it in the house I would have to go on a major snake hunt just to make sure he had moved on out and I too would be thinking that he was living on rodents and then I would be the next one moving on out !!! Cajun2 did you get your plant shed all cleaned out? and any signs of your slithering tenant?

hummingtammy -