D&V Organics CSA
Week 12
Back in February we started up the greenhouse during frigid weather to begin our season, and with it, our onions. After five and a half months, we've harvested our onion crop. The next stage for our onions is to "cure" them, which is a process of drying out the lush green leaves so that the onions form a dry layer and become slightly more shelf stable. Over the next three to four weeks, our onions will slowly lose moisture and cure in our warm and dry greenhouse. The greenhouse makes a great location for drying out the onions. This time of year we aren't in need of the greenhouse space for our Fall vegetable seedlings, so we turn it into an onion/garlic (similar process) drying facility. Onions, if subject to intense direct sunlight get a sun burn, the industry term we use is "sun scald", which causes them to go bad on the spot that burns, so we use a black knitted fabric (shade cloth) to decrease the light transmission directly on the onions and make the temperature in the greenhouse slightly cooler. Despite the shade cloth, the temperature in the greenhouse on a warm sunny day still reaches well into the 90s, and with several fans to circulate the air in the greenhouse, the onions have a perfect environment for curing.
Enjoy,
Derek and Crew
