Arty's Garden: Walk Like an Egyptian ... Onion

Originally published in the April 16, 2014, issue

 

Whenever I hear The Bangles sing “Walk Like an Egyptian,” I think of ‘80s fashions as well as the highly stylized paintings adorning the tombs of the pharaohs. And I think of onions: Egyptian walking onions.

 

Egyptian walking onions (Allium cepa var. proliferum) are a type of multiplying onion that forms small bulbs called bulblets on top of their stalks where you expect to find a cluster of flowers. The bulblets may even have small stalks of their own, giving the plants an interesting Medusa-like appearance. Sometimes they will also have a few flowers, too.

 

As these bulblets grow and as the stalk holding them ages and withers, the bulblets weigh down the stalk and take root where they touch the ground. In a sense, they “walk” across the garden.

 

T. Greiner wrote of Egyptian walking onions in The New Onion Culture back in 1904 that the “quality is inferior, but the bulbs may be readily sold when better varieties are wanting” and that “if planted deep in rich, loose soil, the stalk blanches in the manner of leeks … and makes a green onion of fairly good quality.”

 

The bulbs can be eaten fresh as spring onions or cooked; the tops can be used as scallions and the bulblets can be pickled. Though raw Egyptian walking onions can be strong and hot, sautéing or other cooking methods will reduce or moderate their heat.

 

However, in all my years of growing these onions, I have only eaten them twice. I don’t fear or dislike them, I just think of them as ornamentals rather than vegetables. In fact, I have them growing with daylilies and daffodils and in pots along with dianthus and violas. Their leaves are a sturdy blue-green all winter, and the stalks in spring are interesting, attractive and a conversation starter.

 

Egyptian walking onions will withstand a wide range of growing conditions and are almost as durable as the pyramids. Even the ones growing in pots did not suffer any cold damage this winter. 

 

Not many commercial sources sell Egyptian walking onions. They are usually passed along from gardener to gardener. You may see them offered in the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin. Subscribers can place a free advertisement to see if readers have any to sell or share.

 

One last thing – though “walking” in the name is easily explained, “Egyptian” is not. No one is sure where these onions originated, although I like to think they are truly connected with the mystic land of the Nile.

 

Arty Schronce is the Department’s resident gardening expert. He is a lifelong gardener and a horticulture graduate of North Carolina State University who encourages everyone to walk into a nursery or garden center this spring and learn more about the fascinating world of plants.