What do spring onions, leeks, chives, and garlic all have in common?
They’re part of the allium family. Alliums are a group of around 800 plants. Within this family there are a handful of plants that have been used to add flavour to dishes around the world for centuries. These are great staple of any edible garden as they’re easy to grow and require little care. So, get the gloves and garden trowel ready as today we’re going to be sharing our tips on how to grow edible alliums in the garden.
When to plant alliums:
Most alliums are planted around the shortest day of the year and harvest around the longest day of the year, although if you want to get the most out of the growing season you can start planting them around April until September.
Growing Onions:
With the sub-tropical climate, we have here in Brisbane the best time to plant your onion seedlings or seeds is now (autumn and winter) this allows harvest before the humid summer weather arrives. Onion seeds can be grown in garden beds or in seed trays that are transplanted into the ground when they mature into seedlings.
Seeds should planted in rows 10 cm (about 3.94 in) to 15 cm (about 5.91 in) apart, in rows about 20cm to 30cm apart and only a few cm deep and then cover them back up with dirt. If you don’t want to grow from seed, you can also buy onions in seedlings. When planting seedlings, you follow the same process of seeds, you don’t have to worry about standing the seedlings up as they will right themselves within a few days.
Your onions will be ready to pick in around six to eight months. You’ll know they are ready when the tops die off and the leaves dry and fall over. After you harvest your onions, we recommend leaving them in the sun for a few days to dry the outside and harden the skin. Once the skin has dried out simply store them in a wire basket or mesh bag in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to cook with them.
Growing Leeks in the Garden:
Leeks have the mildest and sweetest flavour out of the edible alliums. They are also one of the easiest things to grow in your edible garden. Like onions you can sow as seeds in a seed tray and transplant them into them the after around six weeks. You can also grow your leeks directly from seedlings bought from Capalaba Produce.
In about 2.5 to 4 months you can start harvesting your crop, just wait until they are large enough to use. Leeks can also be left in the ground, so you don’t need to harvest them all at once.
Growing Garlic in the Garden
Garlic is grown for its flavourful bulb, it’s easy to grow and loved in the kitchen. We wrote a detail guide on how to grow garlic, make sure to check it out here.
Growing Spring Onions in the Garden
Unlike onions that are grown for their bulb, spring onions are grown for their thin white stems and leaves although they do have a small edible bulb. The entire plant is filled with flavour that is loved in the kitchen. In Brisbane we’re lucky in the fact that you can grow spring onions basically all year round, although they do prefer the cooler months to get established.
Spring Onions are an easy to grow and popular addition to any edible garden as they don’t take up much space and can be grown in pots and containers. To plant your spring onions simply bury the seeds or roots a few cm deep around 5mm (about 0.2 in) apart. Then in eight to twelve weeks your spring onions will be ready to be harvest, washed, and ready to use in the kitchen.
Growing Chives in the Garden
Like Spring Onions chives are a popular addition to any edible garden as they are easy to grow, easy to harvest, and have a mild flavour that compliments so many dishes. There are two main varieties of chives that we stock here at Capalaba Produce, common chives and garlic chives.
Common chives are made up of small, slender bulbs that produce a thin, tubular, blue-green leaves that grow to around 30cm in height. Common chives are also more resistent to the cold than garlic chives.
Garlic chives look similar to common chives but they have flatter, greener leaves that grow to around 50cm (about 1.64 ft) high. As the name suggests, garlic chives have a mild garlic flavour.
Whether you’re planting garlic or common chives the process is the same, simply plant the seedlings about 10cm to 15cm apart. You can start harvesting by snipping the stems, this will also encourage new growth in your plants.
With the cost of living continuing to rise there is no better time to start growing your own food at home and growing alliums is a great place to start edible garden. Be sure to come down to Capalaba Produce for the best advice in the garden, for your pets, or your hobby farm.
Happy gardening for Nicholas and the team here at Capalaba Produce.
