ok - another newby question

Am I harming my onions by chopping off the green flowering tops? Will the bulbs quit growing? I planted onions in front of my tomato's and I could barely see the tomato plants so I chopped em off ....... I only left about 8".

Howdy "mom"! If you are just cutting off the flowering tops (scapes) that will encourage your onion bulb growth. If they were left to continue flowering/begatting seed, the bulb growth would not only stop but it would get really "pithy/soft" and not be a desirable onion.

Just cut off the flowering stalk though, dont cut the onion leaves, they'll need those for growth.

Enjoy!

opps.........I guess I'll be hanging me some oinions today, thanks Horseshoe, live and learn! Jill

Hah! Jill! NO!....if you left some of the onions leaves (didn't you say 8 inches?) that may be enuff to allow the onions (bulbs) to continue to grow bigger.

I luvs onions! Heck, today I sliced some and mixed them with slice cucumbers with a bit of vinegar, pinch of black pepper, and have them in my fridge just waiting for me to sink my incisors into them! Yummy.!

Wish you would've saved those onion tops though! They are great stir-fried in olive oil, add a bit of broth (chicken or veggie) let them simmer a few minutes and , if you choose, hit them with a dash of soy sauce at the last minute. So delish! So healthy! So Yummy!!! In other words, "never throw the greens away".

Oh no --- again, live and learn! I'm learning so much from people at Daves Garden --- I will leave them and see what happens, hopefully the bulbs will increase a bit, they're rather small. Here is what I did with the flower tops, DH is thrilled, he thinks it looks pretty cool, I think it looks a bit Dr Suess-ish! LOL!

Shoe!! Hi haven't seen you around lately, maybe I just visit the wrong forums though. Just wanted to let you know that back in February you sent me some bean seeds that were purple when picked. Well I planted them, and they have done well. I picked them last night and cooked them today. They are delicious. I thought I had put the infomation that you sent with them in a safe spot, but if I did the safe spot moved!! What are those beans? I plan on saving seed to plant next year. My neighbors have been watching them and they are fascinated with them. Of course I am going to have to give samples of the cooked product, so I probably won't have many left for me. Let me know what they are, please.

Jill...nice bouquet!! :>)

Howdy deFoe!....Yes, 'tis true, I haven't been posting much due to an excessive amount of workload this year on the farm. I remember sending you the bean seeds but can't remember is I sent you the pole bean or bush bean variety.

If the pole type, they are known as Purple Pod Pole. (Apparently discovered in the Ozark Mtns in the '30s.) If they are the bush type, you'll see those listed in catalogs nows as Royalty, Royalty Burgundy, Burgundy Beans, etc. When I rec'd the seed they were simply called Purple Beans.

At the mkt I have sold them sub-titled "Magic Beans". "Why, kids! These purple beans, when dropped into a pot of boiling water, turn GREEN right before your very eyes! It's magical!" Hehehe...next thing I hear is, "Mom, can we get some of those!?" Children and adults alike love those beans!

Enjoy!

Shoe, they were the bush variety. Very tasty, especially with a piece of Ky country ham thrown into the pot!!. I could sell a truckload of them as much interest as they have generated. Everyone stops by our garden (it's pretty) and right by the road. Would post a pic, but have dial up and it takes forever. Be sure that I am going to save those seed, and if I see them in catalogue, will order more. Thanks so much.

Great! Glad you are enjoying them so much! Please save seed as that is a variety that is a "pass me down" and quite possibly not available from a catalog. (and I'm so glad you thru a piece of side meat in the pot!)

By they way, I too have dial up and have found that pics download fastest when resized to 640 X 480 (learnt that from Dave!). Give it a try sometime!

I bet those beans would go great with some of Jill's onions too, eh!?

Ya'll keep smiling and have a happy day!
Shoe.

I used to grow purple beans to get my daughter to eat them when she was little. I think I probably ordered the seeds from Pinetree (www.superseeds.com). We also grew "easter egg" radishes that came up purple pink and white, french market carrots that grow into little balls, little watermelons, and popcorn. Now she's at that teenager stage, back to not liking veggies, and I'm out of kids to plant purple beans for. Bummer man :)

defoecat - just about anything is better with a slab of KY ham. Or butter. I think all my favorite recipes start with "melt one stick of butter....". The next line should be, ..."toss in one large slab of ham".

If for some reason they ban pork in Kentucky, I couldn't cook a lick! I have some of those recipes, that say melt one stick of butter too. Wonder if they come in a special edition? When something doesn't taste right, just add butter, or some bacon grease!!

LOL! One can't really grown any quality cellulite without bacon grease! My ex mom in law used to eat bacon grease sandwiches. Toast, slather on some grease, and off she'd go. The funny thing is she was all of about 100 lbs and 5'2.

Where is pleasureville? My grandfather is in Georgetown.

We are about 40 minutes from Georgetown. I am about half way between Lexington and Louisville in Henry County. Out in the country. We are not secluded, but we don't have neighbors close enough to touch, like in cities.

I got hooked on a variety called Louisiana Purple Pod - its a climber and VERY prolific. I canned until I dropped! I love to cook them with new potatos and some onion. Some days I was too tired to worry much with supper so I'd throw in a couple of pieces of chicken - voila - a meal in a pot!

Love beans cooked (really cooked!) with new potatos and okra on top. I always cooked beans with salt pork (fatback). Sliced 'maters, fried corn and yellow squash to go with the beans. YUMMMMMMMMMM.

BTW, my mother always mashed her squash up with real butter and heavy cream.
Pati

When did you say supper would be ready??? all I have to do is put on shoes and I'm out the door!!!!

These posts are bringing back lots of memories. When my mom would be frying bacon, my dad would take a piece of bread & dip it into the drippings in the skillet.

Even when I open a can of store bought green beans, I add a little salt & pepper & some bacon grease. Really makes them taste good.

Never had purple beans, but they sound good.

They really do turn green in hot water. The main reason I planted them was because they produced so well. They taste just like green greenbeans.

momof2 - you could even add the chopped onion tops to this, then add young blooms to a salad.

Good gosh, just visiting this site for the 2nd time today. You all are making me hungry. Nothing better than fried corn, green beens (cooked with ham), served with chopped onion, squash, and new potatoes. I fry up some green tomatoes and a pan of cornbread, boy that is heaven. Oh and red maters if I have them. Fried June apples go good with this too. I think this is why I like to garden, just anticipating the fresh things from the garden.

If you haven't read the book "Sweet Pototo Queens Book of Love" get it - absolutely hysterical, although a tad raunchy at spots. I've been laughing by behind off, and just finished it last night. There's a chapter about learning to tan properly, where she relates tanning cellulite to cooking chicken skin - neither looks very good white and raw, but baste it well and brown it up and voila! --- it looks appealing.

I live in Illinois, but I'm not from here originally. I was born in Denver, and grew up overseas. My mother is from Wyoming, and my father's side of the family is from the South - Texas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. My grandmother and my great grandmother on my Dad's side were such great cooks. Just last month I found my grandmother's recipe for BBQ beef brisket, and was even lucky enough to have her sauce recipe on the back of the card. I slow cooked that puppy, made her fried green tomatoes, cornbread, and apple dumplings. That dinner was like going home - I haven't eaten like that since I was a little girl. My sweety was in hog heaven - he was born and raised here in Rockford, and had't even had chicken fried steak until he met me. He tries to eat lean, but no one can resist a good plate full of southern cooking.