Several years ago I was gifted Walking Onions from a generous lady that I often get organic apples from. These are a perennial onions, (come back every year) and I learned that they are called walking onions because they “walk” or spread throughout the garden. I have given several plants away and recently learned that they are in several different states now.

I started these Walking Onions by planting a clump of these where I wanted to keep them, and I let them spread on their own. The onions spread by the bulbs that form on top of the onions. I have witnessed the bulbs fall off the plant, or I have seen the onion fall over and start new plants that way. I used to hate plants that spread, but after a lot of struggles with getting some plants to grow, I appreciate something that comes up on its own, is very hardy, and is low maintenance.

We like to start harvesting these onions in the early spring. They are one of the first plants to turn green in my wood chip garden. At first we only harvest the tops of older plants, then as the new plants come up, we harvest the bottom too. They remind us a lot of green onions at that time. As they get more mature, we only harvest the tops again since the bulbs can get woody and spicy. These didn’t produce much the first year, but now they are all over the garden. When I harvest these onions, I always feel like I’m getting free onions, since I don’t have to do much with them to get them to grow.

Do you have a favorite onion you like to grow or eat?