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Sunday 8 November 2009

Walking Onions and other relatives



Another "must have" for Permaculture enthusiasts are Walking Onions, also known as Egyptian Onions (Allium proliferum). These are perfectly normal onions which give flowering tips which produce bulbs which fall and give way to new onion plants, hence the reason for its name for the plant that seems to walk through the garden!

The bulbs are however small.
Perhaps even more interesting (although I don't own these yet) are Multiplier Onions (Allium cepa aggregatum), which produce bigger bulbs in clumpings. Both species are edible and taste like onions.

Welsh onions (Allium fistulosum), Ramsons (Allium ursinum) and Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are other perennial options. Chives taste wonderful in omelletes. Ramsons can grow native in shade in European forests and give many white flowers in spring; the plants look very similar to other poisonous species like the Lily-of-the-valley, but they have a strong smell of garlic.

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