Scallions

Scallions (spring onions) taste great in salads and work well as a garnish on lots of different dishes. These mild-tasting onions are basically young plants, which would develop into mature onions if left in the potting mix. I especially like using them in Asian soup dishes and Vietnamese summer rolls, but there are endless ways of using them in your cooking.

Scallions are easy to grow and an excellent starter plant in your new vegetable-patch container. I think they’re a good choice if you are a novice and will really help boost your home-growing confidence. You can grow them successfully in containers, so they’re a perfect extra on an urban balcony. Scallions don’t spread out as much as some other crops and will more or less take care of themselves as they mature. You just need to check that you allow enough room between each seed when you sow.

The right growing conditions

It’s a good rule of thumb when growing scallions to make sure that the potting mix is kept moist, but not soggy; you don’t want to overwater the plants as this will make them rot. When you’ve decided to plant scallions, you might want to prepare the potting mix a few days in advance and add some solid organic fertilizer pellets to the mix. Scallions are usually ready about eight weeks after sowing. They’re also hardy plants and can weather colder temperatures, making them ideal for balconies and roof gardens.

Which varieties to choose

The varieties of scallion that most people grow are ‘White Lisbon’ and ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’. The latter, as its name suggests, is hardy throughout the winter. You can also buy a gorgeous variety called ‘North Holland Blood Red’, which has attractive, burgundy-colored bulbs.

Scallion Fact File

When to sow: Early spring to mid-summer (you’ll need to sow hardy varieties such as ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’ in late summer or early fall).

General care:

• Water the plants if the weather is dry, but do not give them too much water otherwise.
• Feed occasionally with a liquid fertilizer.

Harvesting:

• Harvest from early summer to mid-fall when the bulbs are mature and the foliage turns yellow (hardy varieties can be harvested in early spring).

Pests and diseases:

• Onion fly: small flies that lay eggs on the plants; use a pesticide to deter them.
• Neck/onion white rot: different mold on onions; lift out infected plants to avoid the disease spreading.

Cook’s tip

One of the reasons I like cooking with scallions is that they are much milder than normal onions, and both the green tops and the small, white bulbs are edible.

grow radishes Radishes are an ideal crop for growing in containers. They germinate and mature quickly, making them perfect for the impatient kitchen gardener, and look and taste wonderful thinly sliced in salads. You can sow radish seeds in a container of soil-based potting mix from late winter. Once the seedlings have germinated, thin them out and use the discarded seedlings in salads. Water regularly and then harvest your radishes about five weeks after sowing. Remember, the longer you leave your radishes unharvested, the hotter they will become!