From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Terry Coombs wrote:   
      
   ...re onion seeds...   
   >    When is a good time to harvest those seeds ? I have several bunching   
   > onions in bloom right now , and I'm considering starting from seed for   
   > next year .   
      
     for regular onions i cut the heads off and put   
   them in cardboard box tops or flats to finish drying   
   in only one layer so they won't get fungi and i also   
   turn them once in a while to make sure they're getting   
   evenly dried out.  i know it is time when i see the   
   first seeds start to show (when the seed pods start   
   to crack open and you see the black seeds in them).   
      
     this is the first time i've got bunching onions   
   to grow here and i'm not sure the seed heads are   
   the same for these as regular onions yet.  they're   
   still flowering and covered with bees.  :)   
      
     chives i have grown before and those are a bit   
   different than regular onions in that the seeds   
   seem pretty quick to fall.   
      
    for the bunching onions the only reason i have them   
   growing now is that a friend mailed me some of his   
   plants.  i am never planning on growing any from seeds   
   because these plants will divide easily and keep   
   growing even after eating some of them i expect to   
   have plenty of divisions to do a whole line of them   
   for the next round.   
      
     the seeds from the bunching onions i'll give away   
   at the seed swap - that's the only reason i'm   
   harvesting them and drying them out when they're   
   ready.  i'll know in a week or two if they are more   
   like chives or regular onions or what.   
      
     so far i'm pretty impressed by how well they've   
   grown and the deer, rabbits, etc. have been leaving   
   them alone.   
      
     when i've tried to grow bunching onions from seeds   
   in the past i've not had very good luck, but i always   
   direct sow seeds in the garden and they could have   
   been too old of seeds anyways.   
      
     i've had reasonably good enough luck with the fresh   
   onion seeds i've harvested myself here.  i threw away   
   several ounces of seeds last year because i could not   
   use it all and nobody wanted it.  by throwing away i   
   mean feeding to the worms as i don't throw much away   
   here if i can help it.  all organic matter is welcome.  :)   
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)