Spring Onion : Lilia (Red Onion)

Vegetable

• Crops in : June-October for salads. August for mature bulbs to store

Description

A dual purpose Italian variety with a pungent flavour. Spring Onion Lilia is best grown as a salad onion with nice, dark green leaves and a shiny, intense red inner core.

Onion Lilia can also be grown as a maincrop, storing bulb onion. When fully mature it shows off its defined red and white inner rings.

Sowing Instructions

Sow seeds March-August for salads, March-April as a bulb onion. Seeds are best sown thickly in broad drills for pulling as salad/ bunching onions. Sow 13mm (½in) deep, in drills 30cm (12in) apart. If sowing for mature bulbs, sow seed more thinly.

Growing Instructions

No need to thin seedlings for salads. If for bulbs, thin to 5cm (2in) for smaller bulbs or 10cm (4in) for larger bulbs.

Aftercare

Will grow in any fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. Keep well watered.

Nutritional Information

For years onions have been used as one of the oldest medicines for their anti-bacterial, antiseptic and anti-asthmatic properties. They have also shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Kitchen Notes

The vivid red stems and bright green leaves add colour to any salad.