Welsh Onion
A useful addition to the veg plot, this perennial ‘bunching’ onion can be split to make new plants. It stays green through the winter, so can be eaten all year round, and bees really love the creamy white flower heads that are produced in mid-summer.
Grown by Wales Seed Hub member Carolyn Moody on her One Planet smallholding in Pontyates.
Approx 150 seeds per pack.
Seed Story: Ok, so I admit they’re not actually Welsh. The name refers to a near obsolete word ‘welch’, which means ‘foreign’ or ‘non-native’, as the onions themselves originate from China. Known by many different names including Japanese bunching onion and long green onion, welsh onions are a useful addition to any veg garden. They’re one of my favourites as they’re easy to grow, really productive and immensely versatile. They’re also a perennial and pretty much evergreen here in mild south-west Wales, where I’ve been growing them for a good few years now. You can either harvest them whole, digging up the clump, dividing it and replanting the other half, or you can snip off the leaves as and when, throughout the year. They don’t form much of a bulb, so more like a chunky spring onion, but bolder in flavour. Chop them up and cook with them in place of a normal onion, or shred them finely and use raw in salads and the like. The pretty, white flowers are tasty too, and bees and other pollinators absolutely love them.
Why not save your own seeds!? All our seeds are open pollinated, non-hybrid varieties.
See our seed saving guidelines here: Save Your Own Seeds
Growing instructions – Welsh Onions
Like most alliums, they can be sown both indoors and out during the spring – early spring for indoor sown, and mid to late spring when the soil’s warmed up for outdoor sown. I sow mine indoors, sprinkling the seed fairly sparingly over some moist potting compost in a seed tray. Cover with a fine layer of compost and put the cover on to help maximise the warmth. Once they’ve germinated, leave them for 2-3 weeks, or until big enough to handle, then harden off, tease out the individual seedlings and plant out into a sunny spot about 6” apart. Dig in plenty of organic matter initially, and water regularly throughout the season.
Seed grown using agroecological principles. We are licenced to sell seed and issue plant passports. Reg number: 7710.