From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
     the seeds i planted last year worked out fairly well.   
   today i was out weeding and lifting up what i want to   
   keep or use.  there's plenty more tiny bulbs left in   
   there that will keep growing for this fall and into   
   next year.   
      
     most of what i lifted today were the red onions but   
   the seeds i used were not entirely one variety and may   
   have had some crosses in there too so that is one of   
   the reasons i planted them.  well, aside from the fact   
   that the seeds were old and i wasn't even sure many of   
   them would grow at all.   
      
     it turned out i had several thousand that survived   
   from last year and through this spring and the dry spell   
   we had, but they did get watered since there are other   
   onions in that patch i have to keep going.   
      
     they were not thinned, they were weeded, whatever i   
   have harvested now were the ones that grew best around   
   the edges and then in the middle with competition from   
   all the other seedlings.  they also were not mulched   
   at all last winter.  the soil is mostly clay, but also   
   fairly good in terms of nutrients.  i normally put down   
   worms and worm compost under rows of onions i plant.   
   these two rows of seeds were not planted in that though.   
   i save that for the big sweet onions Mom likes to cook   
   with.   
      
     i had three seedlings from last year and that lived   
   through the winter which were big enough to flower.  of   
   the three one of them has both seeds and tiny bulbs on   
   top so it is a walking onion cross from somewhere.  i   
   don't grow those here but a few years ago i did have   
   some onions that were very different like that so   
   perhaps some of those seeds were in this batch i had too   
   or they managed to cross.  i don't have enough seeds or   
   tops to share around yet, but i'll see if i can get an   
   increase out of these next year because it is interesting   
   and useful to have both seeds and small top bulbs to   
   work with.   
      
     today was the first day in a long time that it was   
   cool enough to work outside from the morning into the   
   afternoon.  mid-70s and a bit of a breeze.  couldn't   
   ask for a nicer day to putter around in the gardens.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)