Green Onion Renewal: Who Knew!

I don't want to call this "recycling" as green onions are a living thing!  But that act is exactly what it is--recycling.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one could not only recycle the green onions, but propagate an equal amount weekly! For free!  Amazing! As we would say in Hawaii, onolicious, too! I've been buying those weekly forever! As of my discovery, I do not plan to purchase green onions in the future. Like, ever. Not again.

It only takes a bit of the white end of the green onion to renew itself.  As long as there are roots and enough of the base onion to hold those roots whole, it is as easy as snipping and placing in a cool glass of water in a window sill.  I change the water every couple of days because, ewww, don't want to eat something that has been sitting in rank water for long.  I've even left them for 3 days and water appeared fresh and not slimy.  One only needs enough water to cover the roots. The nub needs enough white with roots to proceed.

After two harvests, I planted the original cut onions (which I also cut long to test this recycling deal) into soil, so I have a glass tumbler (a mismatched leftover of a bygone era) holding up my onion stems in the kitchen window and a pot of onions outside.  I plan to rotate them every so often because I cannot find any information as to whether growing in water will maintain full nutritional value. An educated assumption of reason tells me that after some time, the nutritional value may weaken due to lack of renewed nutrients. 

Then again the new onion is well,  renewing, so alas, this question begs an answer.

The onions we harvested this way were perfectly pungent (perfect aroma/oils for a green onion) and were crisp and juicy.  Very impressive.  I cannot even recall the last time I had green onions that fresh or tasty.

My poultry shears are getting a little dull, so I highly recommend a nice sharp pair of shears for harvesting. I will be getting a new pair or using a dedicated pair for this purpose.  After these first few weeks, I am absolutely thrilled that I have garden fresh green onions at my whim!

Luckily, the last grocery store green onions we purchased were organic.  I do have green onions growing from seed after two failed attempts that are now thriving.

Variety: Evergreen Bunching Onions
Sown: 1 APR 2013 (first attempt totally indoors-frail and weak)
Germinated: The current thriving batch: end of April - 4" long as of this writing.