Way back in February, as gusts of wind and snow blew outside, Erin and I put in our first seeds for this growing season: onions. As we sat around estimating how many would go into each row outside and into each flat, we tasted a seed. We laughed because it was sort of like we were eating a whole onion, well, the potential for one. The flavor lingered on our tongues for a surprisingly long time and we dreamed of big juicy onions that would become of each of those seeds. It was an exciting time.

Soon the little seeds popped up. Summer was on its way!

In late April, when the plants resembled little strings but seemed strong enough to survive the transition of transplanting, we prepared beds for the onions. Then we tucked them in with ample room to grow and lightly covered them with straw.

After months of watching them grow, weeding and watering them, they finally began to flop over, breaking off the path for energy from the leaves to travel down into the bulbs. That’s the sign that it’s time to harvest.

So one of our friends rounded up some palates for us and with the help of our intern, we took the onions out of the ground and gave them a new home with plenty of airflow on my back porch.

It’s a milestone and a dream come true.

Work is in full swing here at Erie's Edge Farm, inside under the lights and outside under the sun.

People pictured: Virg, Erin, Becky, Phil