WALLA WALLA SWEET ONION is an Italian heirloom, originating around 1900 on the island of Corsica. Sweet onions have a low sulfur content and high water content which enhance the natural sugars of the onion. The Walla Walla migrated to Washington State around 1913 and has become a statewide industry. It has some unique properties that make home growing a little easier. In the Northwest, it is planted in the fall and overwintered. It can withstand temps to 10 degrees below zero! Harvest starts in late Spring/early summer. It does not keep well. Best eaten fresh. You can try splitting your crop by planting again in early spring for later summer harvest. 110 days from transplant. 30 seeds.

GROWING TIPS: Easy to grow with a long storage life, onions are one of the best vegetables for the home gardener. They can be grown in the same position for several years and with a little planning, can be available for nearly all year round eating. Onion seed must be sown as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. The soil should be moist before sowing so check the soil the day before sowing and water if the soil is dry. Make sure your are planting in an undisturbed location with fertile soil since they have shallow root systems. Use a straw mulch to retain moisture. Keep an eye on the green shoots. Keep weeded and regularly watered to help ward off pests. Sow your seed in drills about 2cm deep with about 1 inch between seeds. If sowing in rows then space the rows about 30cm apart. Keep well weeded and when they are about 5 cm in height thin them so that they are spaced about 10cm apart. Onions are ready to harvest a week after their tops have started to fall over and are yellowed. Use a fork to lift the onions out of the ground. Take care not to damage the skins as this invites decay organisms in to attack the onion flesh. Onions should be harvested on a sunny day, cleaned of any soil still attached to them and then placed on top of the soil where they will dry out with the help of the sun and wind.. Leave the onions out for a few days (until the tops dry out). Remove the tops with a sharp knife about 2cm above the onion top so that decay organisms do not have direct access to the onion bulb. Discard any onions that show signs of decay or damage as these can affect healthy onions if they are stored. If you want to store the onions over winter then you can cure them by hanging them in a well aired place (such as from the roof of a summer house veranda). Mesh bags or strings can be used to group and hang the onions and they should hang for about 3-4 weeks. Spring onions can be harvested when they are about 30-40cm in height and will store for up to a week in the fridge. To prepare spring onions simply remove the outer set of leaves and wash.

CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM GARDEN SEEDS & PLANTS offer hundreds of heirloom and vintage open-pollinated varieties. Most have histories dating back centuries and are tried and true producers. Some are rare, or threatened with extinction. When you grow a plant from heirloom seed and save that seed, you are participating in a practice that goes back for generations. Our grandparents and their grandparents grew these varieties. Often the seeds were prized possessions carried to the New World when they emigrated.

Ever notice how most seed catalogs require you to buy much more seed than you could possibly use in a season? If you have a budget for garden seeds, this limits your choices! Although seeds can be viable for longer than one growing season, it requires that they be stored at a consistent temperature and humidity. Few of us do this. CherryGal sizes its seed packets for the home gardener, because we know you may want to grow 5 different lettuces, or three different corns, or 50 different vegetables, herbs and flowers -- and don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it all! We strive to keep our overhead as low as possible so our seed prices can stay as low as possible. So we do not have a huge staff, no printed catalogues -- just very fine fresh heritage seeds at unbelievable prices. CHERRYGAL SEEDS ARE A TREMENDOUS BARGAIN!

Another important reason to grow a large variety of plants is that one of the chief culprits in honey bee colony collapse disorder seems to be that their immune systems are weakened by the prevalence of commercial mono-cropping. In other words, bees pollinating only one variety crop have a diet equivalent to eating only bread. Growing an abundant variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers will help sustain our precious honeybees!

All seeds offered are FRESH stock, with high germination rates, tested by the growers and myself. Varieties are specially selected for home gardeners. If you want the flavor you remember from grandma's kitchen garden or the beauty of her cottage flowers, choose CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS.

ABOUT OPEN-POLLINATED SEEDS . . . All CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are heirlooms (dating at least 100 years) or vintage (mid-20th Century or older) varieties, with an occasional modern variety included which I believe merits special attention. All CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are OPEN-POLLINATED. This means saved seed will be true to the parent. Don't be dazzled by the never-ending array of hybrid seeds promoted by gardening suppliers. First, seeds from that produce will not grow true to the parent -- you have to keep buying the hybrid seed (get the picture?). Second, most hybrids are developed for market – not home -- growers with an emphasis on extended shelf life, storage and shipping qualities -- NOT flavor, texture, fragrance and all those other elements that home growers seek.

All CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS come from reputable growers (most of them small farms) and wherever possible ORGANIC suppliers (so noted). By buying CHERRYGAL SEEDS you are supporting the growing worldwide movement of SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE and with a little practice you will be able to save even more money in the future by growing these open-pollinated varieties and saving seed for next year.

Please Note: CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are guaranteed to be fresh stock, but are not guaranteed as to results. Sorry, but there are too many variables in gardening that can impact germination so please do not ask for a refund, replacement or to return unused seed. I always recommend that if you are new to gardening, or to a particular type of plant or variety, that you grow just a few at first to test your germination method. Email with any questions - I always respond promptly. Having said all that, we think you will be pleased and would like to hear about your gardening success!

SHIPPING: This is important! Practiced gardeners know that the best time to order seeds is as early as possible in the season. I do not list varieties for sale that are not in hand. I also add/subtract varieties all season long as inventory fluctuates, so check back often. We are constantly improving our fulfillment procedures to decrease the amount of time from order to shipping. We have added a SHIPPING BANNER to the front of the site and on every listing page which will give you the current time frame for shipping seeds. In off-season, seeds ship very quickly - usually the next business day. But as the prime season comes on, shipping can slow. Please consult this shipping banner before you purchase, so there will be no disappointments! We fulfill orders in the order received. Choosing priority or express shipping does not influence the speed with which your order is processed, only the speed with which it moves through the postal system. I package my seeds for shipping in a manner appropriate to the amount and type of seed - larger orders and larger seeds require more packaging. Whether you choose first class mail or priority shipping, your seeds will ship using a delivery confirmation number which will be supplied to you. This is NOT a tracking number, usually. The new postal protocols are such that your package is not scanned on my end (usually) and will not appear in usps tracking until it gets to your end. Our checkout system is keyed to the US Postal System. For small seed orders, I recommend choosing FIRST CLASS mail at checkout. Larger orders (over 13 ounces) can ship either parcel post, or you may find PRIORITY MAIL to be less expensive, depending on your zipcode. (I gave up trying to figure out the US Postal System rates a long time ago).

I appreciate all my CherryGal.com customers, but have a special affinity for my seed customers. If you have a problem, please email me, using the contact links that are all over the website. Calling is likely to be a frustrating experience, as I do not have the staff to answer the phone, but your email will be promptly responded to.

Lastly, keep an eye out for my end of season sale. It is always a bargain and it is my goal to completely clear the shelves each season so that I am offering you only the freshest seeds year to year. Happy Gardening!