Beginning The Onion Harvest

Onions going to drying rack for curing

For some reason I hadn't expected to begin the onion harvest on Easter Weekend. Usually we begin around the beginning of May. Although May is actually only a couple weeks away, onions just don't seem, well.... very Eastery. They are not exactly the thing I imagine when the bunny is hopping down the bunny trail carrying his basket full of onions. None the less, here we were hippity hoppity onions on their way.

Onions getting layed up on the drying racks

I do have to admit however, that as we began laying up the onions on the drying racks they really began taking on sort of a Easter grassy look. I actually thought it was looking a bit like a tiki hut. So maybe we were having a Hawaiian type of Easter. I had to ask myself how does an onion go with a holiday that really isn't about the Easter Bunny, or cute chicks and eggs or candy and baskets or even white lilies and lambs. All these things are symbols that represent different things on Easter. They all relate to Jesus and what happened when He died on the cross and then arose again from His tomb. Jesus conquered Satin giving us life eternal. It just so happens that in Ancient Egypt the onion was a symbol for eternity. Their leaders also placed their right hand on an onion to take the oath of office. Although those of us who celebrate Easter do not worship the same God's and Goddesses as the Egyptian people. We also place our right hand on the Bible when taking an oath. The onion non the less once was considered a powerful symbol. It also left me with glorious thoughts of knowing that I can always find God in my garden.

So as we continued with our onion harvesting on Easter weekend, I was left feeling like we didn't miss Easter at all.

“The onion and its satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables and is the only one that represents the essence of things. It can be said to have a soul.”
— My Summer in a Garden by Charles Dudley Warner

Happy Gardening and Happy Easter!!

Pammy