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Our 2018-2019 season officially kicked off this week at the farm as the first field of onions was planted. Catalogs will be mailed in the month of October, and before we know it, we will begin shipping onions in November.
As many of you are still enjoying your onion crop, we thought we'd share some of our favorite recipes this month.
Enjoy your onions,
Bruce "The Onionman" and Jeanie
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Our Favorite Onion Recipes
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Cheddar and Ritz Cracker Vidalia Onion Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
- 1/2 stick butter, melted
- 2 cups Vidalia onions (or sweet yellow onions), thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Dash of pepper
- 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon smokey paprika
Directions
Mix Ritz crackers and melted butter.
Press into an 8 inch pie plate.
Sauté Vidalia onions (or sweet yellow onions) in 2 tablespoons butter until clear, but not brown.
Spoon into pie crust.
Beat eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over onions.
Sprinkle with cheese and paprika.
Bake at 350
º for 30 minutes or until firm in the center.
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Courtesy of She Wears Many Hats
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Quick Cucumber and Red Onion Pickled Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large cucumbers, peeled and cut into quarter-inch slices
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh dill
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
Mix the onion and cucumber slices in a large bowl, then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients except for the dill. Toss the salad thoroughly, then chill it in the refrigerator for half an hour. Prior to serving, sprinkle the dill over the salad, and toss it again.
Roasted Parmesan Creamed Onoins 
Ingredients
- 4 medium to large yellow onions
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup of white wine
- Parmesan cheese
Directions
Peel and slice the onions into ¼ inch thick slices. Carefully place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, keeping the rings intact. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 375º for about 15 minutes.
While the onions are roasting, place the heavy cream and wine in a small saucepan and simmer until it starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and set aside.
After the onions are out of the oven, carefully transfer them to a shallow baking dish, again, keeping the rings intact. Slowly pour the cream sauce over all the onions. You can add more black pepper at this point if you'd like. Raise the oven temp to 450º. Sprinkle each onion with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.
Cover baking dish with foil and return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and let the onions get nice and brown and caramelized for about 5 more minutes.
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Check out these gorgeous dark red and white onions! Jake Bernstein shared this photo with us of his crop. Here's what he had to say about his Dixondale Farms onion transplants,
"Thank you, Dixondale Farms. I just harvested the onions I planted in January, according to your instructions. Thanks for another great year in the Santa Cruz mountains in California."
Share Your Photos with Us!
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
customerservice@dixondalefarms.com, 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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Harvest and Storage Aids
Once you've harvested your onions,
they'll need to be stored until you're ready to eat them. Here are a few products
that will help you keep them fresh.
 Onion Shears:
You can clip your onions like a professional onion harvester with these
shears
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Ergonomically designed for quick and easy removal of roots and onion leaves, our shears also work on all other alliums, including garlic and our own Lancelot Leeks. They'll help ensure you enjoy your harvest for months by making it easier to prepare your onions for storage. $25.95
Mesh Netting: The best way to store onions is in
mesh netting
. Drop in an onion, tie a knot above it, drop in another, and continue until the netting is full. Hang the netting up in a cool, dry place, and your onions will stay fresh.
When you want an onion, cut below the lowest knot and take the onion that drops off. The nets are a great storage solution, as they keep onions well-ventilated, and disease (if any) can't travel from onion to onion.
$1.50 each or $1.00 each when you buy ten or more.
 Storage Bags: If you grow onions in quantity, like so many of our customers do, our orange mesh storage bags are ideal
-- especially if you're planning to sell your onions. The bags provide ventilation, and they're light but also strong. They're available in
three sizes
, with the 10 and 50 pound sizes recommended for larger producers.
You can purchase our
storage bags individually or in bulk. They're
$2.75 each, but if you buy ten or more, they're just $2.25 each. And as with all products at Dixondale Farms, we don't add shipping charges.
Onion Caliper: With this onion caliper tool, you can accurately determine the size of your crop:
Super Colossal: 4-1/4 inches and up
Colossal: 3-3/4 inches and up
Jumbo: 3 inches and up
Medium: 2-1/4 inches to 3-1/4 inches
Prepack: 1-3/4 inches to 2-3/4 inches
Boiler: 1 to 1-7/8 inches
We're selling this handy tool for $4.99. It's great to use at farmers' markets or for bragging rights with other onion growers!
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Around the Farm
Here's a quick video from our first planting this season.
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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
customerservice@dixondalefarms.com
.
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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