harvesting and storing onions

We were asked recently about harvesting and storing onions.

We grow mostly Spanish yellow onions; we like them, and they store very well. Harvest is the same for all bulb onions; sweet onions (like red onions or Walla Wallas) don't store so well, but here are the basics:

When about half your onion plants have fallen over, go down the row and knock over the rest. It's enough to just shove them over with the side of your shoe, but don't step on them (funny, because this process is known as 'stepping over' your onions). Step them over, and then leave them just like that for a couple of days.

Now go down the row and pull all the onions and drop them there on the soil, and let them lie a couple more days. These two steps are how you tell the onion it's done growing.

Now you want to gather the onions (it'll be easier if you laid them down neatly in the last step) and spread them out in the shade, preferably on a screen or rack or at least a sheet, so they get air circulating around them, and wait for the necks to dry out completely. Don't hurry this step; damp necks will mold and spoil.

Braided, dry onions will store in a cool dry place for months; ours last us into May or June, when green onions come available.