What I Learned Organizing the Seeds

All the boxes and mailing pouches were in, so it was time to put the seeds in the red toolboxes they live in until they go in the ground or the seeding tray.  Always a good time to check in and make sure everything is on track.  It's early enough so I can always go back to the seed stores and get what more I need.  And this year there was one such case:

This first onion is from Johnny's

Red Long of Tropea

Tall, elongated, red bulbs.

Traditionally grown in Mediterranean Italy and France for harvest just at maturity in mid-late summer. Not for storage. Nice specialty variety. Adaptation: 35°-48° latitude. Packet: 460 seeds.   Days to Maturity or Bloom:   90

And this one from FEDCO

2485RT Rossa Lunga di Tropea Onion (110 days) Open-pollinated. My father helped design torpedos in World War II, but none like this, the famous Italian heirloom torpedo onion. The name means Long Red of Tropea, and Tropea in Calabria near the southern tip of Italy is the site of a famous onion festival every August. Elongated like torpedos, these are thin-skinned glossy maroon bulbs with lighter interiors that slice easily into even rings. Sweet, mild and delicious for fall enjoyment, but not for keeping. Plants died back in the first week of October for Donna Dyrek. Intermediate-long day for middle latitudes: 35–48°.

So, that is the torpedo shape both are supposed to look like.  Last year was the first year FEDCO had anything like the one that Johnny's has offered for years.  I love this onion for a few reasons: Beautiful, sweet and mild for a red, and it is my second early onion after crystal white pearl onions.  BUT, do you notice any differences in the description, besides FEDCOs interesting prose.  That's right, the FEDCO onion is 20 days longer, 3 weeks is a long time in a Vermont summer.  Last year we had generally good onions, but this one was smaller than usual, and I never figured out why until I was putting the packets in there places this year.  Already ordered the replacements, so here's to sweet red onions.


Also, a new link to our brochure. A little bit more direct, thank you Intervale Center.  For those interested in bread shares, I just have to touch base with O Bread one more time, but you will be able to buy bread and cheese shares after sampling at the first pick up.


What do I spend most of my time doing in the Winter?  Watching kids build snow forts (note the flag).

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