Garden Tips: A Sweet Tale About a Popular Vegetable

By BRUCE SCHWARTZ | Contributing Writer

Here are some questions: What do you consume 19.2 pounds per year on average? (And that represents a 79% increase in the last 30 years.) What is produced in 25 states? What takes 350 semi-truck loads to provide for daily consumption?

What is grown on 125,000 acres and produces 6.75 billion pounds per year? What is a member of the lily family, and there were 71 native species in America before European settlers like Christopher Columbus arrived? Where did the word “Chicago” come from, and what did it really mean?

If you guessed onions, then you are right.

On the shores of Lake Michigan and all the Great Lakes, leeks and other bulb-type plants grew on the shore, and the Miami and Illinois people called them “Chicago,” and used them to season what they were cooking.

George Washington was a big onion eater. He planted them at his farm at Mt. Vernon. Thomas Jefferson planted onions at his farm at Monticello.

By 1806, there were six varieties of onions in the new world. By the Civil War, there were 14 varieties. Because onions stored well, they became a staple provision for pioneers coming west across America. Even General George Custer, who died at Little Bighorn, was a big onion eater (cepaphiles).

In a documented letter that Elizabeth Bacon Custer wrote, she described her husband as having “onion breath.” Onions have become big business since those days.

The reason I am writing about onions is because of my experience as a grower and nutritional consultant overlooking 1,000s of acres of onions in the Bakersfield area. I have been bringing onions to friends and clients in the Palisades for over 20 years.

I like bringing the spring onions (over wintering) to the Palisades because they are truly sweet. Most people don’t know the difference, but some do.

A spring onion is grown in areas like McAllan, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley; Vidalia, Georgia; Las Crusas, New Mexico; and El Centro, California (Imperial Valley). These locations are the first to harvest onion in the crop year.

Later in the year the onions from Oregon, Washington and Idaho start harvesting, and those onions will make you cry.

Bruce Schwartz is a 24-year resident of the Palisades Highlands. He was an agricultural consultant for 20 years, specializing in soil nutrition for crops grown in the Central Valley. He was named Pacific Palisades’ Citizen of the Year in 2017 and a Golden Sparkplug award winner in 2013, and is a member of several community organizations. To reach Schwartz, call 310-779-1773 or email bruceschwartz@rodeore.com.