What can you do with it?

Why do kitchen onions germinate?

In most cases, the reason for onions to sprout is incorrect storage. Certainly it was too warm, too bright and possibly too humid in the storage location.
If onions are bought, they should be removed from the plastic bag or the narrow net immediately. It is best to store them in an airy basket or an air-permeable wooden box. The storage room should be cool, dry and above all dark. A basement or an unheated pantry is ideal.

Store self-grown onions properly

As soon as the onions are taken out of the bed, certain rules for storage must be observed:

• let the onions dry in a dry and airy place
• After about 10 days, remove the remaining soil from the onions
• shorten the long roots
• Cut off the dry shoots down to 5 cm

Now the onions can be stored in the cellar or pantry. Darkness, coolness and dryness are important.

Use sprouted onions in the kitchen

Once the onions have developed germs, this is no reason to dispose of them. Sprouted onions do not contain any harmful substances, but their quality is now inferior and the consistency of the onion becomes soft. If the germ is still small, it is simply cut away and the onion used as usual.
If you use onions with large sprouts, the dish will taste bad because the onions will be musty in this state. But even the vigorously sprouted onions don't have to be thrown away.

Use sprouted onions in the garden

For example, onions with green sprouts can be planted in the flower bed. The onion then develops a decorative flower. The onion blossom is also an eye-catcher in the vegetable patch, loosening up the strict order of the patch a little. The onion greens can be pruned if necessary and used like chives.
It is best to let the onion wither and set seeds in peace. As soon as these are ripe, the onion flower is cut off and dried. The seeds that fall out are kept dry and dark. They are the basis for onion sowing next year.