Onions

We grow both yellow and red onions. These are supplied directly from the land from July onwards. We can supply onions up to the end of May from our box storage facilities. The onions can be graded if necessary in the sizes 40-60 mm, 50-70 mm, 60-80 mm and > 80 mm. The products can be delivered in bulk, in lorries, or packed in big bags, boxes and crates or sacks (1 - 25kg). After harvest the onions are dried in our box storage facilities and kept at a temperature of 0.5°C. This is needed to prevent the onions from chitting and therefore enables us to deliver a high quality product right until the end of May.

The fields that will grow onions are prepared in March using a seedbed combination at the front and rear of the tractor. We then drill the onions using our own GPS steered precision drill. One day after drilling, the field is harrowed to further level it and kill weeds that might have germinated since. In April, before and during the emergence of the onion crop we use our gas-powered Hoaf burner to burn the weeds off the fields. In May the crop is given an application of fertiliser if needed. The onions are regularly hoed using a finger weeder and GPS-steered Steketee inter-row cultivator/hoe. A great deal of handwork is required in addition to mechanical weed control to keep the onions free of weeds. During August or September the crop is topped and harvested. After allowing the onion swaths to dry on the field these are loaded up. We have our own machinery and manage the entire process from topping to storage ourselves. When the onions are stored in boxes they are further dried and cooled down to 0.5°C so we can keep them in storage until the end of May without the use of chemicals.