This is where I hit upon the second snag. We have two 5 pole sized allotments quite close together on our local site. Ideally I would love to allocate one of the beds there to my onions, however, we have tried to grow onions on our oldest plot in the past and found that we had a high incidence of white rot. Rather than risk it, I decide that I need to find space in my back garden. We have three small (4*6 feet) raised beds that we usually use for growing easy, quick access crops like salads and mange touts. I requisition these to become my onion beds.

The good thing about this is that we’ve been growing veg in these beds for over 15 years, so the soil is very well cultivated. One bed is already full of garlic and onion sets, so I have two 4’*6’ beds at my disposal.

At the beginning of March, I gently fork over the bed, remove all weeds (I know that onions do not like competition for nutrients) and rake the beds level. I then empty three 40 litre bags of well rotted farmyard manure onto each bed, spread that level and then leave them until planting out time.