The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Egyptian onion anatomy

I think that if my family had a crest, it would have an Egyptian onion smack dab in the middle.  So I thought you'd enjoy this video that my mother and sister cooked up between them walking you through the anatomy of the Egyptian onion while also telling how the Egyptian onion entered our lives. 

What got left on the cutting room floor was the tale of how, when my grandmother enthusiastically carried these "round trip onions" all the way home to Massachusetts from Virginia, her sister smiled and nodded.  You see, my aunt Ruth (who wrote for Organic Gardening) had been growing Egyptian onions in her garden next door all along.

Perhaps Egyptian onions are just prone to being overlooked.  My own father only started cooking with them last year when I treated him to a start from my garden's excess.  Now, he's turned into an Egyptian onion pusher too.  Meanwhile, Mark's mother also got some bulblets from me a couple of years ago and is doing her best to populate the entire state of Ohio.  What's not to love about Egyptian onions?

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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The egyptian onion post reminded me that when I first came to Virginia, in the early 70s, I found these onions growing at an old house I lived in, which house had been abandoned for several years. My landlord, Charmie Moore, called them "walking onions."
Comment by Errol Mon Jun 13 13:58:36 2011
I moved too slow this past fall and you were sold out of these. I have a spot of honor ready and hope you will be selling Egyptian onions again this fall.
Comment by Lisa Mon Jun 13 19:36:47 2011
I won a big handful of onion bulbs from you last year. Mine are finally starting to take their first "steps". I've never seen this before - it's fascinating!
Comment by trashmaster46 Mon Jun 13 19:57:01 2011

Daddy --- "Walking onion" is another name for them. Too bad you didn't get turned onto them then --- you could have had another 35 years of delicious seasoning. :-)

Lisa --- I'd been trying to decide whether to sell the top bulbs this year. Sounds like I'll have to....

Trashmaster --- Glad they're starting to work for you!

Comment by anna Tue Jun 14 07:28:27 2011
Thanks for the info!
Comment by Dan Wed Jun 15 08:22:34 2011





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