MICRO-FARMING SPECIFICATIONS:

30metre permabed : Rows; 5, Spacing in the row; 15cm, Days; 70 Harvest days; 14, Total days in garden; 34, Days in cells; 50, Bunches / bed; 500, $2.00 Bunch $1000.00 +/- 9 onions by grabbing 2 clumps/bunch.

INTENSIVE SPACING:5 rows 15cm, spaced every 15cm on the row.

FERTILISING: Spring onions will do great in beds that were previously amended with compost and
fertilized with a mix of alfalfa meal (2-0-2) and pelleted chicken manure (5-3-2).

IRRIGATION:
Irrigation Type; Drip tape or Techline, (4 per bed) or sprinkler, although over head irrigation can increase foliar disease.
Irrigation Management; Root depth: Shallow.
General: Steady supply of moisture; if too dry, onions get a strong unpleasant flavor.
Avoid water on leaves to minimize downy mildew.

IMPLANTATION:
Spring onions (Scallions) onions are one of the most reliable crops. Easy to grow, consistently popular
and they generate a good revenue per bed planted. We plant some every 2 weeks to
ensure a constant supply throughout the season. For every seeding, we plan enough
beds for an estimated 3 weeks of supply.
In our planting program, spring onions are grouped with crops like lettuce, rapini, bok choy, mini-romaine, mini-fennel, dill, coriander and mini-kohlrabi. All crops that stay in the fields +/- 50 days and that have similar crop requirements.

EQUIPMENT:

• Rotary harrow
• 75cm bed prep rake
• Popping tray and marking roller.

ITINERARY:

• Remove tarp and clean out large debris. Use the rake if needed. *
• Uniformly apply amendments and pass with the rotary harrow at a depth of 5cm. To make transplanting easier (seeing as the soil is loose after being harrowed), we only prepare the beds when we are about to transplant.
• Pass with the dibbler-roller to mark the planting holes and bring out the well-watered trays.
• Once the beds are ready, 1 person will drop the seedlings while 2 others transplant the plants as fast as possible making sure that at least 3-4 onions are dropping (if not, combine plugs). 3 people/30metre bed is good ratio for efficient work-flow.
• Install irrigation and water until the soil is deeply moistened.

* If the previous crop is too well established, or if the bed is too messy, mow the crop as low as possible and harrow at a depth of 5cm. Add 2.5cm of compost evenly spread on the whole width of the bed and transplant into compost following a no-till strategy.

WEEDING: 10-14days after transplanting, use the bio disc to cultivate on the row and between the rows in one single pass.

PLANT PROTECTION: No action is required.

HARVEST:

• Spring onions are harvested with their tops and bunched in the fields in a kneeled position.
• Onions are picked when they sized up between 10-12 cm. Bottoms should be white, without any dead leaves?make sure to strip off any leaves that are crushed, or have signs of rip damage.
• Make bunches of +/- 9 onions by grabbing 2 clumps and tying them with a rubber band. Shake off excess soil and make piles of 10 bunches in the aisles.
• 1 person should harvest at least 60 bunches/hour.

CONDITIONING:

• Spring onions are washed using a pressure gun. Upon arriving from the fields, the bins are transferred to the cart and placed to the left of the sinks.
• A lot of bunches are placed side by side with the roots facing the operator. The operator then sprays the soil off with the gun. Turn the bunches over and repeat. Then pile to the right.
• Once the pile has reached a certain height, put in storage bin and identify the bin.
• 1 person should package at least 100 bunches per hour.

STORING: Spring onions are stored in cold room kept at 2C.