http://www.luvnpeas.org/edibility/edible7.html#OnionTree
Onion, Tree; Egyptian O.; Catawissa (Allium cepa aggregatum)
Categories
* USDA Zones: ?7890
* Plant Type: Herbaceous
* Yield: Fair
* Storable: ?
* Bears: Promptly
* Shape: None
* Height: under 4’
* Spread: 1-7ft
* Lifespan: ?
* Growth: ?
* Pruning: Optional
* Origin: Arabia
* Food Type: Herb,Vegetable,
* Appearance: Flowers,
* Uses: Fresh,Cooked,
* Misc. Features: Self-productive,
* Prefers: ?
* Rejects: Soggy soil,Drought,Poor soil,
* Problems: ?
* Cycles: Continuous harvest
Harvest & Use
Tree onions produce bulbettes (grape-sized bulbs) at the top of the stems (you can eat the root-bulbs too), ripening about 100 days into the growing season. The bulbettes are strongly flavored and usually used cooked. The young shoots are also edible.
Appearance
A chive-like plant growing to 4’ with curious bulbous clumps growing at the top. Catawissa onions grow taller than Egyptian onions.
Cultivation
Plant the bulbs in spring, preferably in rich soil with plenty of phosphorus. If unpicked, the bulbettes will bend the plant down and take root, earning the plant’s nickname “walking onion”. Onions are shallow-rooted and need consistently moist, but well-drained, soil. The spiciness of some onion varieties varies according to climate: hot climates produce hot onions. Onions are often intercropped with carrots, because they reduce each other’s pests.
Comment
The word “onion” derives from the Latin “union,” which is also the base for various other romance-language terms meaning smooth, uniform or one. The origin of the tree onion is attributed to the Nile valley or to Asia Minor, depending on which Authority one holds most Authoritative. Tree onions were consumed in great quantities by the pyramid-building slaves. Thomas Jefferson grew them in his garden in Virginia.
Hey Granny, I found some organic tomatoes at Von’s last night (I was delighted to find them there, the store is on the road home from work going up to the lake!). I bought a strange looking heirloom tomato to taste, and if it is good, I will save the seeds and see if I can germinate them. What do you think? I figure it’s a minimal investment. Are tomato plants hard to grow from seed?