Courtesy of Wally S., Wally’s Market Garden, Pleasantdale SK
Want a crop that grows and sells itself? Onions come close. I call them a “fire and forget it” crop. Because it does not require much watering or weeding, it’s perfect for a large plot, say the size of a driveway, 1,000 sq. ft.
Since I’m a SPIN farmer, I usually plant about a couple of segments of onions (a segment is 1,000 sq.ft.), That should fetch me $5k+ at market. If you’re just starting out in the backyard farming business, or growing for home use, a couple of standard-size beds (a bed is 50 sq.ft., about the size of an office cubicle) will produce all the onions you’ll need for the winter. Onions, from sets, are easy to take care of. Very drought resistant. They’re easy to plant. Easy to harvest, dry and store. They re crazy expensive on Amazon, so get them at your local garden center instead. They offer them in small mesh bags of 100 sets for around $3. So spending a couple of bucks and planting onions this spring will save you a couple hundred bucks next winter.
