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One of our favorite times of the year is when ordering and shipping kick off for the new growing season. We have already started receiving orders and look forward to receiving yours. Our first ship week for this season is November 7
th.
Not sure which onion plants to choose? Read on for some helpful tips for selecting the best onions for your area.
Here's to a great 2017 growing season!
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Choosing Onion Varieties for Your Area
One of the keys to successful onion
growing
is planting varieties that are suitable for your
geographic area. Onions are bred for each growing area based on daylength, or the number of hours of daylight needed for maturity. The country is divided into three basic daylength types that are shown on the map below.
The number of hours of daylight triggers the onion bulbing process as follows:
Short Day: Onions start bulbing when daylength reaches 10-12 hours.
Intermediate Day: Onions start bulbing when daylength reaches 12-14 hours.
Long Day: Onions start bulbing when daylength reaches 14-16 hours.
Basically, the northern latitudes have longer periods of daylight, with longer days than nights, while the southern U.S. has days and nights of roughly equal length.
Click here to view our variety chart, which lists onions by daylength, and includes features such as size, storage potential, and days to harvest.
Your Top Choices and Favorites
This year, we will offer all the standard favorites and top customer choices, including Texas Legend, Red Creole, and Southern Belle Red for Short Day areas; Super Star, Candy, and Red Candy Apple for Intermediate Day areas; and Walla Walla, Copra, and Ailsa Craig for Long Day areas.
To see all of the delicious varieties available and to place your orders, visit our
Web site
. You may also contact Customer Service at 877-367-1015. We look forward to another fabulous season of growing with you!
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Q & A: Intermediate Day Varieties
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Q. The daylength map shows overlaps in the Intermediate Day region, which is where I live. Does that mean I can grow some other varieties besides the Intermediate ones?
A. Yes, Long Day varieties, if planted early, will do well in the northern half of the Intermediate Day region. These include our unique varieties, Red Marble Cipollini, Borettana Cipollini, and Red Torpedo Tropea. You can also grow Texas Early White (Short Day) in the Intermediate areas.
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Glenn George of Brookfield, CT sends us this note:
"In the photo is Brendan, my assistant. He can hardly lift the giant Ringmaster onions, which are easily three pounds each. We planted Ailsa Craig, Ringmaster, and Red Zeppelin, and all three grew like gangbusters and are delicious!"
"Your onion seedlings are by far the hardiest and healthiest I've ever grown. Thank you for a great season."
George and Brendan, thanks for showing us your crop. Those are some big onions!
Send Us Your Photos
We enjoy receiving photos from our customers, including those of award-winning Dixondale onions. We'd love to publish yours in an upcoming newsletter. Just e-mail your onion photos to
[email protected] along with a description and your city. You
may see one or more of your photos in a future newsletter or even in our print catalog!
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Featured Products
Our New Onion Growing Success Kits
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| We now offer Onion Growing Success Kits so you have products ready for each phase of an onion's growing cycle. Each kit treats approximately 10 bunches, and includes step-by-step growing instructions to ensure bumper crops in the onion patch.
Onion Growing Success Kit
We've gathered our products to help make you a successful onion grower!
$59.95; SAVE 20%
* Start plants out and establish root systems with our exclusive Dixondale Farms Onion Special 10-20-10 fertilizer.
* Perform pre-emergent weed control at planting time with Treflan Herbicide Granules.
* Boost nitrogen levels with Ammonium Sulfate
three weeks after planting for more rings and larger bulbs.
*Use Mancozeb Fungicide with Zinc to control moisture-related issues.
All Natural Onion Growing Success Kit
Grow a healthy onion crop using all natural products in our All Natural Onion Growing Success Kit!
$62.95; SAVE 20%
*Our exclusive Dixondale Farms All Natural Weed & Feed 3-5-3 is perfect for pre-emergent prevention of weed germination.
*Applying
OmegaGrow Foliar Feed two weeks after planting adds nitrogen to soil for top results.
*
Oxidate Organic Fungicide Preventative and Curative addresses moisture-related issues.
*
AzaGuard Organic Insecticide controls over 300 species of bad bugs.
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Cooking With Onions
Onion and Egg Hash
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
-
1 white onion, chopped
- 2 pounds sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
- 1-1/2 cups small cauliflower florets
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- 4 large eggs
 Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the sweet potato, onion, cauliflower, chili powder, salt and pepper to the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until sweet potato is tender.
Create 4 small indentations in the potato mixture. Crack an egg into each indentation. Cover the skillet and cook for 4 minutes until egg white is set and yolk is runny. Uncover, sprinkle with chives, and serve immediately. Serves 4.
Recipe and photo provided by the
National Onion Association
. If you have an onion recipe you'd like us to print, please email it to [email protected]
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Here's a picture of our 2017 catalog at the printer. Catalogs have been shipped so look for it in your mailbox or view it
here.
In other news, Dixondale Farms recently sponsored two motivational books for students at our local Carrizo Springs Elementary School.
Each student received a book about character and doing their best. We're proud of our young people in Carrizo Springs and appreciate this opportunity to help them out.
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Onion Plant Ordering and Shipping
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You can order your plants now. Contact us toll free at 1-877-367-1015 or visit our
Web site to make your onion plant purchases.
The shipping schedule for the first month is Nov. 7-13, Nov. 14-20, and Nov. 28-Dec. 4 for the southernmost regions of the USA. To see when your plants will ship, visit our
shipping page and enter the first three digits of your Zip Code.
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All Your Questions Answered
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| We have answers to your frequently asked questions! Just click the link for information on planting, caring, feeding, harvesting, and storing onions.
And be sure to review our short videos on Facebook. Topics range from fertilizing and dealing with cold weather to how onion plants are harvested. You can view these videos even if you don't have a Facebook account. |
As the largest and oldest onion plant farm in the U.S., Dixondale Farms offers a wide selection of top-quality, disease-free, ready-to-plant onion plants. To see our complete product line or get growing tips and cultural information, visit our
Web site
.
New customer? Order your 2017 catalog
here.
We're available from 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM CT at 877-367-1015, or e-mail us at
[email protected]
.
Whether you're planting one bunch or thousands of acres, we're committed to your success.
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We invite you to join the community on our
Facebook page
. You can connect with us and fellow growers to share stories, photos, recipes, weather information, and other tips.
And don't forget to find us on
YouTube and subscribe to our videos where Bruce will guide you on selecting the right onion variety, applying fertilizer, the best weed control options, and more.
We're on Pinterest too. Check out
our Pins
which include photos covering small space onion gardens, tasty onion recipes, planting tips, and more.
You can also join us on
Instagram, a photo community where we're sharing even more Dixondale photos.
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