  |
|
|
|
A short history and summary of growing conditions for the Vidalia Onion.
It’s almost that time of year again - Vidalia Onion time. Once a year sweet onion lovers salivate and wait somewhat impatiently for the first shipment of Vidalia onions from Georgia. What is a Vidalia Onion? It is a regular yellow, type F hybrid onion that is grown all over the country. What makes the Vidalia onion an actual Vidalia is the South Georgia climate and soil in that area. It gives it the mild flavor that is sweet enough to eat like an apple if you so choose. In fact the sugar content of a Vidalia Onion is about the same as an apple. It doesn’t burn and it even is said to aid in digestion. Vidalia Onions come from Toombs County in Georgia. In 1931 Mose Coleman, a farmer from Toombs County Georgia, announced that the onions he planted were the sweetest he had ever tasted. Most people thought he was crazy because they had never heard of a sweet onion. It didn’t take long for his onions to make a big hit. He was selling 50 pound bags for about $3.50 a bag, a high price during that time. In the 1940s the State of George built a Farmer’s Market in the little town of Vidalia, Georgia which soon became a thriving tourist business. It was then the onion got the name “Vidalia”. In the 1950s and 60s the onion began to be distributed throughout the United States. Onion festivals became annual events in Vidalia and in Glennville, GA. In 1986 Georgia gave the Vidalia Onion legal status and limited the area in which it could be grown to a 20 county production area. (Now a 13 county area and portions of 7 others.) It was named the official state vegetable in 1990. Vidalia onions come in two sizes, jumbo (3 inches in diameter) and medium (about 2 to 3 inches). The onions are harvested by hand due to their delicate nature. (They contain so much sugar they bruise very easily). Spring crops are usually ready for harvest from April to mid June. About 70,000 plants are produced on each acre and approximately 225 growers cultivate the onion on over 10,000 acres. The soil in which the Vidalia is grown is a sandy loam soil. Combined with mild weather conditions (50° in the winter and 70° in the spring) and this soil, the onion grows with an uncommon sweetness found nowhere else. A fresh Vidalia onion has a rounded shape at the bottom and a flat top or stem. They are a light golden brown with a white interior. Ordinary onions are darker, have thicker skins and are more rounded or oblong while the Vidalia is a squashed tear drop shape. The best way to preserve Vidalias once you get them home is to wrap them separately in foil and place in the refrigerator. They can last for 6 months to a year this way. They can be placed in the legs of clean sheer pantyhose with a knot tied between each onion. Hang in a cool, dry, well ventilated area and cut between the knots when you need one. Vidalias can be frozen. Chop and place on a cookie sheet in the freezer. When frozen, remove and place in freezer bags and seal. Freezing does change the onion’s texture so they should be used only for cooking. Vidalia onions truly have a unique flavor and can be enjoyed from April to June. Here is to Mose Coleman who first marketed them as a different type of onion to the public. Click below for some recipes using Vidalia Onions. spring-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/sweet_vidalia_onions
The copyright of the article The Sweet Vidalia in Annual Plants is owned by Deborah Harding. Permission to republish The Sweet Vidalia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
