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Catalogs have been mailed and most of our customers should have received them by now. If you have
not, please contact
Customer Service
or call (830) 876-2430 to make sure you receive one.
For those of you that are ready to place your 2018-2019 season onion plant order, below are some tips to ensure you've chosen the best varieties for your area.
Happy preparing,
Bruce "The Onionman" and Jeanie
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Selecting the Best Varieties
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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.
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.
Our variety chart lists onions by daylength and includes features such as size, storage potential, and days to harvest.
Planting the Wrong Variety for Your Area
If one plants the wrong variety for their area, results can vary, but one thing is for sure, the onions will NOT reach their full size potential. The bulbing process will not be triggered in onions of the wrong daylength variety and will end up just growing large, tall tops. One of the most important pieces of information we tell customers is to make sure they have the right varieties planted. This will help ensure your crop is off to a great start!
To see all of the varieties available and to place your orders, visit our
Web site
. You may also contact Customer Service at (830) 876-2430. We look forward to another of providing the highest quality onion plants for you!
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Hudson England of Smoot, WY has been growing Dixondale Farms onion plants and sharing his growing experience with us for many years now. He is always coming up with new ways to improve his onion growing process.
Hudson sent in these photos of his curing process. Pictured are Highlander onions drying in his greenhouse at the beginning and end stages of the drying process and his final cured onions. This method keeps moisture out of the onions and extends their storage potential. We thank Hudson for always sharing his new onion growing innovations with us and his fellow Dixondale Farms onion growers.
Share Your Photos with Us!
We enjoy receiving photos from our customers, including those of new methods of growing, harvesting, curing, and storing. 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 and state. You
may see one or more of your photos in a future newsletter, or even in our print catalog next year!
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Onion Growing Success Kits
We are offering
Onion Growing Success Kits again this season
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!
$60.95; 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.
Grow a healthy onion crop using all natural products in our All Natural Onion Growing Success Kit!
$63.95; 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.
*Neem Organic Fungicide/Insecticide f
or organic gardening controlling Botrytis, Tip Blight, Rust, Downy mildew, Powdery mildew, Spider Mites, Aphids, Whiteflies, and other insect pests. Kills egg, larvae, and adult stages of insects.
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Around the Farm
Bruce and Jeanie Frasier celebrated 40 years of marriage this month! We would like to congratulate them and wish them many more years of happiness. Dixondale Farms appreciates all you do for us!
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Cooking with Onions
Nana's Quiche or Mom's Bacon and Onion Pie
Ingredients
- 2 prepared single pie crusts in pans
- 1/2 pound of cooked bacon crumbled
- 8 eggs whipped smooth with 2 cups of half and half
- 2 cups of chopped onion sauteed in the leftover bacon grease, then drained
- 3 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese tossed with 1 tablespoon of plain flour
Directions
Whip the eggs with the half-n-half and set aside while you load the pie shells.
Divide the onions evenly between the 2 pie shells, next divide the bacon between the 2 pie shells. Now do the same with the cheese. Pour half of the egg mixture over the ingredients in each pie shell. Using your finger tips, mix the ingredients thoroughly with the egg mixture. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle tops with ground Nutmeg. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted into middle comes out 'clean'. You may need to cover the crusts at the 30 minute mark to prevent over-browning.
Recipe from Dixondale Farms customer, Teresa Slusny
.
Teresa adds,
"I started out making just 1 of these at a time. By the time my first son was 4, I was making 2 at a time (IF there were any left overs, they were used as breakfast the following morning.) I am now requested to "be sure to have..." whenever either of my sons and their families visit for the weekend.
It has been a favorite to take for "tailgating" at the ball games, picnics at the beach, and requested for pot luck dinners in the neighborhood. My oldest calls it "Mom's Onion and Bacon Pie" since according to him, "Real men don't like "quiche". Haha!
Thanks for sharing, Teresa! If you have an onion recipe you'd like us to share, please email it to
[email protected]
.
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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? Request your 2019 catalog
here.
We're available from 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM CT at 830-876-2430, 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.
 Don't forget to subscribe to our
YouTube channel! Our videos 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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