Harvesting Onions

[chickmom3]

This is the first in many a year that I have had onions in my garden. They are a red torpedo type. How do I know when they are ready to harvest? Will the tops start dying down or do they do that when you lay them out to cure them?

[Ali Lee]

My parents didn't pull them till the tops were dead. Then dad would dry them, on the floor, single layer, on newspaper in his shed. When dried, he would put them in homemade wooden crates.