How to Grow Scallions in a Home Garden

Scallions—green onions, spring onions, whatever you call them—are one of those kitchen staples I always want within arm's reach. Their milder onion flavor is wonderful in salads and soups. Here's the thing: scallions are just young onions, plain and simple. While certain varieties are bred and sold specifically as scallions, any onion you grow can become one. Just follow standard onion-growing advice and pull them early, when the foliage hits six to eight inches and the stems are slender and white at the base. Basically, when they look like scallions!

Start scallions from seed by sowing onion seeds indoors eight to ten weeks before your last expected frost. Give them plenty of light—I use a grow light. Harden off the seedlings and move them into rich, well-drained soil in full sun after the last heavy frost. You can also sow seed directly into well-worked garden soil in early spring. In mild-winter areas, I sow in fall and harvest right through the winter months, which is a real luxury.

Keep your scallions happy with regular watering and a weed-free bed. Those shallow roots mean the soil can't dry out—stay on top of it. When it's time, just pull them up. Scallions are best used fresh, but if you need to store them, stand them in a glass of water in the fridge and they'll keep about a week. I usually just grab what I need from the garden right before cooking.

Image credit:By Idéalités - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0