One of my favorite books is The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour. I love this book not only for its information, but for its inspiration. Reading it makes me feel that, eventually, we just might be able to have an actual homestead (beyond our 1/8 acre in the middle of the city) to call our own! Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot to learn, but I do trust we will get there someday … and hopefully sooner rather than later!
With fall upon us, I most recently pulled out this book in order to glean a bit of information on how to string up some onions. We didn’t harvest many, but even a few onions can look nice all strung up! According to the book, once you’ve made sure they’ve dried/cured completely and that they all have long enough stalks to support them being tied together, the next steps are pretty simple:
- Start by knotting four of them together (using their own stalks – I used string)
- Then add onions, one by one, to the original four, twisting the stalks around the string (I added a few at a time and then tied the string around the stalks).
- Once all the onions have been added, you’re supposed to braid the remaining stalks around the string. Then, simply hang ’em up.
- Being a complete novice, I forgot the braiding part and just tied a few knots before cutting the remaining stalks off. Ugh. You’re supposed to leave the stalks attached so the onions are less susceptible to bacteria and molds.
- Then, hang them up in a cool, dry, dark place (ours go into the pantry)
Simple as the project is, apparently there is still room for Newbie mistakes! But they sure look good hanging next to a professionals garlic braid, don’t they? I look forward to the day when I can string up some onions without even having to think about it! Like I said before, we’re a long way off from owning a piece of land, having a million tools under our belts and becoming self-sufficient, but we will get there, one step at a time (even if we stumble a bit on our path)!