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Dealing with failure is not something I enjoy.  But, adapting to change is a much more positive approach and often works!  While I moped about because of the onions sprouting in store last autumn, BigD got practical and just replanted them.

So an update for you – yes it works!  If you ever have any stored onions starting to sprout (too many to just eat there and then), pop them back in the ground.  I’ve been using these replanted onions for the last month and am pleasantly surprised.  They are stronger tasting than a spring onion/scallion.  So they’ve been great cooked in place of ordinary onions, but not too strongly flavoured to be eaten raw in salads. Each onion has split into between five and ten large spring onions.  They still have a few layers of the original onion around the bottom, which is a bit soft and needs to be removed.  Underneath the newly separated scallions are all perfectly formed.  We aways pick some of our onion seedlings small to be used as spring onions but this method is actually easier.  I just pick one old onion to get a bunch of salad onions.

These onions have needed no watering or looking after – I haven’t even weeded round them which is naughty as onions don’t like competition.  So from a storage failure we’ve had a free few months of scallions.  No effort and no waste!

Because we’ve run out of stored onions early, this ‘disaster’ has forced me to use scallions cooked and I like them.  We use all the green part too and must say they give a much fresher flavour to sauces.  Last night’s tomato, cheese and onion quiche (a favourite ‘stand-by’ supper) actually tasted better than ever with its use of sweeter, more moist scallions.

So in a way our onions sprouting as been a good thing.  I’ve discovered I can be more adaptable in the kitchen.  Also, though things taste different with ‘the wrong’ ingredients they can still taste very good.  They don’t taste like calçots though which has surprised me.  They are much more tightly formed (like a spring onion) and milder than calçots which are pretty full-on flavour-wise.

In the garden, as indeed in the kitchen, it pays to be adaptable.  Think around problems and do not panic!  Things go wrong or happen unexpectedly.  Working with those changes will introduce some new taste combinations and bring some variety into our lives.  Gardening and particularly vegetable growing is all about managing nature.  So when nature just does its own thing we have to ‘go with the flow’ and see what will happen.  So if you think its all gone wrong take a deep breath and see what happens, it might be better than you could plan!

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