Happy Summer Solstice to all! In a few hours (1:16 p.m.) the sun will be directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer and we will be experiencing the longest day of the year.
Did you know that this is a very important day for onions? Onions are sensitive to the amount of day light available during the growing season. Here in the northeast, we must plant “long day” onions because our summers have much longer days than those in the south. Why is this important? Onions trigger bulb growth at a specific length of daylight, say 15 hours per day. Prior to reaching 15 hours, the onion will only produce vegetation, the upper greens. Once 15 hours is reached, the onion is triggered into concentrating on bulb growth and vegetation growth stops. As the onion matures, the tops will eventually fall over, signalling time for harvest. Pretty cool, eh?
As you can see in this photo, our onions have very nice vegetation and look more like scallions. From today forward, they will be putting their energy towards the bulb instead, creating the sweet and tangy flavors that we all enjoy.
We here at Blue Skys Farm wish you all a happy and healthy summer season.
See you at the market!