Well it’s how the Mrs does it anyway. I’m pretty crap at it if i’m honest, they end up sort of hanging off the string in no real semblance of order. I’m gonna write ‘we ‘ though cos i was there taking pictures! I’ve been meaning to post this for ages as there really isn’t a definitive guide online that i can find, so here it is!!! It’s a shame, they looked quite nice laid out on the wire rack.
We started with a piece of string that was about a metre and a half long and tied the ends together. We then hung it from the shed door so that we could easily tie the onions onto it.
The first one is the hardest. The neck needs to be wound in a figure of eight about 4 or 5 times, and then pushed down towards the bottom of the string. This will be the base of the string. Any surplus ends can be trimmed off when the string has been finished.
The second onion is wound in a figure of eight about 3 times, opposite the first one. This enables the onions to be evenly spaced around the string, rather than in one long line, and wil fit more on. I think it looks very ‘traditional’ like this, and looks great hanging off the kitchen door.
The third up to the last are the same. They need to be carefully wound round as shown below and pushed down towards the rest. Be careful not to leave any gaps as they will show up later.
I think we tied on about 25 – 30 onions onto the one string, which means they are now compact and easy to store…much better than bagging or tying them individually. The pic below show the finished onion string, tied before we trimmed all the rubbish and loose ends off, and after. I hope this has been useful, please leave a comment if it has…or even if it has not!
Tags: how to string onions, how to tie onions, make onion string, stringing onions, tying onions
September 14th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Ooh, this is very interesting (and the pictures are very useful!). If/when I manage to grow onions in a year or two, I’ll have to come back to this.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:35 am
The problem I have with onion strings (which may or may not have been tied like this – don’t know) is that when you start using them, they start falling off.
Lucy Corrander
PICTURES JUST PICTURES
September 14th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Yes, I agree that was very useful. Hopefully next year I will have enough onions to give it a try. Sadly I expect it won’t be quite up to your standard!
September 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
It seems a shame to spoil the beautiful handiwork by using the onions!
September 14th, 2008 at 11:14 am
wow, they look perfect. So much better than in a sack where the bottom ones become squashed and you have to keep checking they havent ‘gone off’.
September 14th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I just plait them neatly and it decends into chaos. But they stay on the string and I just cut them off with a knife as and when I need them. I was never neat, am a bit cack-handed an i can’t see it changing anytime soon. Mrs Vegmonkey is very skilled though! Nice work
September 15th, 2008 at 12:45 am
That string looks great, hopefully I will be able to do the same with my onions this year (if they get through the summer). This is the first year I have tried growing my own onions – so I’m not holding out much hope!
September 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Very cool. Even I could do that now I have seen you great pictures and instructions.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:57 am
That’s what I call a really USEFUL post!! Thank you very much indeed for sharing this; my own onion-stringing efforts have been haphazard at best, so it’s nice to see how it should be done. Another problem solved!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Stringing onions is a lost art, I had no idea how to do it until I saw your post. I shall invest in good string and aim to have festoons and garlands of onions after next years harvest. Cheers!
October 4th, 2008 at 8:28 am
We’ve always wondered how to do that!
October 11th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Perfect, everything i needed to know !!
Thanks x
October 11th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Cheers everyone. We did the pictures and the post as we couldn’t find anything decent on the web to help us. So we made one.
Would love to see your own attempts this year, or even next. Take some picks and post the link in comments!
Happy stringing!
January 28th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Very helpful. Thanks!
March 7th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
very good just what i was looking for the pics make it easier to follow thanks, what a nice page.
March 21st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
YAY! found out how to string onions – now all I need is for them to grow
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
[...] http://vegmonkey.co.uk/how-to-string-onions/ [...]
July 5th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Well – I brought back some 30 very large onions from the allotment last week (I had spent weeks dousing them with a liquid rabbit poo mixture (my grandson’s rabbit called Rex) they are Japanese sets Sanshuay or something that sounds like that) I started off thinking I was doing a very professional job stringing them up until I tried to hang them up outside in the garden onto the inside struts of my garden umbrella and then things started to go wrong!
I wished I could send a photo because it really would give everyone a laugh! However,
I am about to try your wonderful recipe for stringing up onions and hope they are going to end up as marvellous as your wife’s. Many thanks – Whilst on line I would like to ask your advice about Sweetcorn – Do you know what the purpose is in cutting back the bottom shoots? If you dont here back from me its not because I cant be bothered its because I am such a busy person getting on line only happens perhaps once every two weeks (too busy pulling weeds)
Many thanks for this info
Mrs Motivator x
July 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Very helpfull,and usefull,I will return…..
July 12th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Fantastic! I always wanted to know how this was done. My onions are looking pretty good for my first attempt and it won’t be long before I can try onion stringing myself!
Thanks!
July 12th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Thanks all, like I said, the post is up here cos i really couldn’t find anything decent! If anyone is brave enough to email me some pics to mjward_uk@yahoo.co.uk, I can showcase your efforts!
Mrs Rotavator – I haven’t heard of that…it maybe so the plant puts its energy into one or twoc obs, rather than leaf growth, or half finished cobs. gonna go look it up…!
July 16th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Just the ticket. Thanks.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:48 am
Thanks for the onion stringing help. Our onions are fantastic this year so i’m going to be very busy with the stringing.
Anne
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Thank you, we have just harvested all our onions and you have saved me a lot of time trying to work it out. My Mr is watching telly again….
July 29th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I loved your pictures & instructions, I’ve just had my first try at stringing shallots & although they seem to be hanging ok i’m not sure they will stay hanging! Our onions are now ready so with your help i’m hopping to make a good job of stringing them, many thanks for taking the time to post your instuctions & photo’s. With best wishes Lin
August 1st, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Good pictures – words don’t convey the meaning really, imo, and the pictures do show, I think, how to thread the leaves of the onion thru the strings, rather than try to rotate the onion about the place.
Thanks.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:30 am
thanks for onions stringing, excellent description, just hope they last the winter. i used to live in the cheltenham area, now in the north east, a slightly different gardening experience, but have a great allotment.
have real trouble with tomatoes, for three years running lost both in and outdoor to blight.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 am
Thanks for sharing this information – easy to follow and I’ll get stringing today! It’ll be really useful for our budding allotmenteers at our brand new site in the village.
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 am
Where are you Nat? I’m interested in finding out how people have got the slow cogs of council’s working to get new allotments!
August 26th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I live in deepest rural France where everyone seems to have a potager; me too! This year, for the first time, I grew onions. Everyone in my tiny hamlet is French, but nobody knows how to string onions effevtively. Thanks to your excellent explanation, I’ve managed to string my first 100 large onions; very pretty they look too! Only anothe full wheelbarrow to go.
Thanks a bunch. Or should I say, thanks a string;-)
August 31st, 2009 at 6:59 am
Thank you so very much. Photos are excellent.
August 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I followed your instructions and now have 2 very lovely looking strings of onions. My sister was very impressed. Thanks for sharing how to do it. Great site too xx
September 28th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Exactly what I was looking for. Now when we move the shed in a few days time, I won’t have to chase rolling onions around!
Thanks.
Eve
October 21st, 2009 at 9:32 am
fantastic, worked really well even for a muppet like me, thank you
December 29th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Thank you so much for the instructions. I started stringing my onions a few days ago thinking I knew how it was done only to find them on the floor of the shed this morning !!! I wasn’t a happy Jan. It was then I decided to google and that’s how I found your site. the pics are so helpful and so much better than words.
Many thanks again, I’m sure they’ll now stay put on their string.