Potatoes, Onions & Garlic

Growing your own potatoes, onions and garlic

Potatoes, onions and garlic are surprisingly easy to grow and store. For peace of mind, our organic varieties are produced without chemicals or pesticides in accordance with certified organic standards. Fortunately, they can all be grown together, and the smell of onions and garlic naturally wards off pests. 

When is garlic ready to harvest?

Harvest your garlic crop once the leaves turn yellow. Autumn-planted garlic is likely to be ready by early summer; spring-planted bulbs will be ready to harvest from mid-summer through to autumn. Once it’s ready to dig up, don’t delay harvesting your garlic – the bulbs are tighter and store better if lifted promptly. Handle your crop with care for garlic that lasts longer in storage.

When to harvest onions

Harvest onions as soon as the foliage has yellowed and wilted. For autumn-planted bulbs, this will be early to mid-summer, while spring-planted varieties will be ready from late summer into the autumn. Use a fork to carefully lift your onions, then, after cleaning them, place them in the sun to dry so that the skins become papery.

How to store onions, potatoes and garlic

Potatoes are best stored in breathable paper bags or sacks, somewhere cool and dark – your garage, for example. Garlic and onions can be plaited for storage, or hung up somewhere cool and dry in mesh bags. Although people often keep their potatoes and onions in the same space, if you can avoid doing so, your alliums will keep for longer. Potatoes produce small quantities of ethylene gas, which encourages other fruit and veg to ripen and, in the case of alliums, makes them sprout.