Plant sprouting onions

Plant sprouting onions especially for their greens.

Don’t throw away your onions when they start sprouting; dig a small hole in the garden, add some compost and plant the bulb. Within a few weeks it will start producing long green-shoots that you can snip off and add to your salads and stews.

An ancient soup recipe, over 6,000-years old, says: "First, take an onion, and then make something that will warm the soul."

I can’t think of anyone who would disagree with that sentiment. It is the one vegetable that almost everybody enjoys and uses in their cooking, and for good reason; we just need more of them. The flavour added to a soup or stew is amazing; even more important are the wellness-benefits.

The onion-family in general contains an amazing array of phytochemicals that scientists are busy testing with very interesting results. It is particular rich in three; allicin, quercetin and kaempferol^[1,2]. They not only make your eyes water, but strong research in peer-review journals convincingly show the protective effect of these flavonoids against disease.

Listed are astonishing proofs of how people who enjoy adequate quantities of onions have less malignant tumours, cardiovascular-diseases and protection against neurological sicknesses; and a host of others. This I suspect is even more true of their greens.

Onions are known in nutritional jargon as functional foods; they help prevent disease and simultaneously enhance wellness. That is why folk who eat eight or more coloured foods every day have a 35% lower all-cause of death; that’s massive.

The meat and potatoes diet should have gone out years ago with B&W television; it’s time to upgrade to colour.

I don’t know about you, but by the time we reach the bottom of a pocket of onions, there always seem to be some that are going soft and are starting to sprout. If you plant them instead of sending them to the dump, you’ll be surprised within a few months what a thriving patch of greens you will have.

Snip a few leaves for your salad, and more for your stews; they add a rich flavour, improve your well-being, and reduce your reliance on bought onions. It’s so easy.

For a different slant knowing how onions grow will give you a better understanding of these wonderful vegetables.

Plant sprouting onions

Nearly a third of all food grown for our consumption is dumped in one way or another; it is a crime against humanity and the Earth. Don’t chuck those sprouting-onions; just plant them.

In short we need to make sure we are enjoying onions, leeks, and shallots regularly; and don’t forget the garlic and chives. They taste of heaven in any case, and it is so easy to add them to your daily fare, raw or cooked.

This pork slithers with chives dish is one of our favourites. You could just as easily use the greens if you have taken the trouble to plant sprouting onions; thirty-minutes from start to finish to cook this meal.

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