I'itoi onions

[Boutique Tomatoes]

A forum search found a couple of threads mentioning this onion. I'd come across mentioning of it a while back, but wasn't sure how well it would do outside the desert environment it came from.

For those of you growing it in the north, how has it done for you? Are you digging them and storing the bulbs for the winter, just covering the planting with straw or ?

[fortyonenorth]

I tried them last year and, despite free-draining soil, straw, and snow cover, I lost every last one of them. I'm in NW Indiana, near Lake Michigan, so I'm probably a full zone warmer than you. All that said, I'll try them again and see if I can do better. To my knowledge, Native Seed Search is the only commercial source. I checked at their website last week and it wasn't available. Last year, I ordered at the end of August, so it could be that they haven't harvested this year's crop yet and will have it in a few weeks.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

I tried them last year and, despite free-draining soil, straw, and snow cover, I lost every last one of them. I'm in NW Indiana, near Lake Michigan, so I'm probably a full zone warmer than you. All that said, I'll try them again and see if I can do better. To my knowledge, Native Seed Search is the only commercial source. I checked at their website last week and it wasn't available. Last year, I ordered at the end of August, so it could be that they haven't harvested this year's crop yet and will have it in a few weeks.

I was betting I'd have to grow them in a container and at least bring them in the garage or basement. I'm intriqued because flavor wise they sound very similar to West Indian cives, which I've never been able to find a US source for and have been too worried about getting caught to try and bring back in luggage.

I'll keep checking Native Seeds, if they don't have them this year I've got a couple of business trips to Arizona in the works for the fall, one to Tucson, so if nothing else I may be able to buy some from a farmers market there.

[fortyonenorth]

If you're a member of Seed Savers, I believe there are a few listings in the current yearbook.

Also, I do remember a thread here where Earl Cadenhead was successfully growing I'itois in Ohio. So, there's always a chance - good luck!

[Suze]

Rich and marktutt, I'll be happy to share some I'itoi planting stock with both of you for postage. PM me your mailing addresses, and I'll send them when I have a chance. It's brutally hot here and I hate to mail planting stock when it's this hot, so it may be a few weeks. Others - not a general offer, sorry.

Rich, as you said, Earl C. in Ohio has grown I'itoi successfully. From exchanging a few emails with him in the past about I'itoi (so I could advise someone in NJ on when to plant) my understanding is that Earl generally plants in Oct. I passed that along to the fellow in NJ, and I think he ended up planting about 1/3 of what I sent him in mid Sept, and the rest in Oct.

The grower in NJ actually sent me an email a couple of weeks ago to let me know that his I'itoi harvest was great and he even had enough extra to share planting stock with a friend. I can ask him if he protected in any way, used row cover, etc. if you'd like.


Mark, I wonder if maybe a spring planting of I'itoi might make more sense for you in WI? I do know that some in colder zones plant their shallots in the spring, so maybe you'd have the best chance of success going with a spring planting for the I'itoi even though it is not technically a shallot, but a multiplier.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by Suze

Rich and marktutt, I'll be happy to share some I'itoi planting stock with both of you for postage. PM me your mailing addresses, and I'll send them when I have a chance. It's brutally hot here and I hate to mail planting stock when it's this hot, so it may be a few weeks. Others - not a general offer, sorry.

Rich, as you said, Earl C. in Ohio has grown I'itoi successfully. From exchanging a few emails with him in the past about I'itoi (so I could advise someone in NJ on when to plant) my understanding is that Earl generally plants in Oct. I passed that along to the fellow in NJ, and I think he ended up planting about 1/3 of what I sent him in mid Sept, and the rest in Oct.

The grower in NJ actually sent me an email a couple of weeks ago to let me know that his I'itoi harvest was great and he even had enough extra to share planting stock with a friend. I can ask him if he protected in any way, used row cover, etc. if you'd like.


Mark, I wonder if maybe a spring planting of I'itoi might make more sense for you in WI? I do know that some in colder zones plant their shallots in the spring, so maybe you'd have the best chance of success going with a spring planting for the I'itoi even though it is not technically a shallot, but a multiplier.

Thanks! A PM is on the way.

What I am imagining is that I'd need to put them in the unheated garage in damp sand or sawdust over the winter and plant them in the spring in April/May. It gets cold but never freezes out there. That would be preferrable to trying to find a spot for yet another container inside...

I've tried just holding French Gray shallots until the spring and they invariably dry out unless I do something like the sand or sawdust to maintain a little moisture. Garlic does fairly well here planted in October if it's under 6+ inches of straw and we get a good snow cover, which is normally every winter, but I think shallots and probably the I'itoi are a little more tender.

[DiggingDogFarm]

Just curious....
What's so special about I'itoi as opposed to all the numerous alliums that are easily grown here in the north?

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by DiggingDogFarm

Just curious....
What's so special about I'itoi as opposed to all the numerous alliums that are easily grown here in the north?

I'Itoi onions share characteristics with true shallots and clumping onions. The sharp, peppery onion/shallot flavor of the I’Itoi is well suited to the robust, piquant flavors of the regional cuisine of the southwest.

The descriptions of the flavors and characteristics make me think they are a close relative of the 'cives' used on a number of the Caribbean islands. Those are normally described as a very sharp tasting large chive/green onion (depending on the island) with shallot overtones. I haven't been able to find a source for cives anywhere, but I'm hoping that the I'itoi may get me closer to that authentic taste in some of the things I'm working on.

If nothing else, the story behind them about the varieties history with the Tohono O’odham nation and them essentially being saved by home gardeners is interesting.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by DiggingDogFarm

Just curious....
What's so special about I'itoi as opposed to all the numerous alliums that are easily grown here in the north?

It serves as a superb tasting green (cutting) onion throughout the year here in Texas. I don't really understand what folks in cooler climates do (or need to do) for year-round green cutting onions or if such a thing is even possible - but here, I get terrific results staggering plantings of I'itoi bulbs every few months solely for that purpose.

I do also plant a main crop in the fall for bulb harvest in the spring, so as to have enough planting stock to work with throughout the year. I may occasionally use some of those bulbs as small "shallots" in the kitchen (usually run them thru a garlic press, easier than peeling), but really my primary interest in growing I'itoi is for harvest/cutting of the green tops because the flavor is lovely.

As Mark indicated, I'itoi shares characteristics with both shallots and clumping onions (so a bit unusual), and has terrific sharp, peppery flavor. It is also hard to come by, which is another possible reason besides the history that some might find it of interest.

IME, I'itoi is very easy to grow in a hotter or arid climate, poor soils, or less than optimal conditions. I've occasionally put it in places where the soil was not amended at all (and my yard is pretty much straight sugar sand), where it was forgotten and not watered at all for long periods of time. It's pretty adaptable, at least in my climate. YMMV.

A potential problem I see for those in cooler zones is that I'itoi might not be winter hardy if planted in the fall, and should likely be tried as a spring planting instead, or protected or grown in a greenhouse. I have no firm info on what the winter hardiness is on I'itoi, other than to say that folks in zone 7 or a solid 6 might have a fair chance of doing a fall planting successfully.

Here in Texas, the tops remain green throughout the winter even in a "cold" (for Texas) winter, and there is little or no chance of losing it from a fall planting in my neck of the woods, at least in my experience.

[Tracydr]

I would love to try some of these. I know they grow in AZ, as I've seen that the AZ crowd grows them. Suzette, if I could send you an SASE?

[blokesmom]

A gardener in AZ shared some of his I'itois onions with me. Planted them here in Z5b the summer of 2010. They overwintered just fine here even after a rather severe winter.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Just as a follow up, while this winter is no indicator of how they would do in the ground during a normal Wisconsin winter, the bulbs I stored in the crisper in a breathable bag were just fine and started sending up shoots after just a few days of being out. I'd say they can be overwintered this way for folks with normal winters to severe too just leave them in the ground.

Thanks Suze!

[TomNJ]

I planted some outside here in NJ last November and covered them with several inches of straw mulch. They came up and grew a few inches above the mulch, then disappeared sometime over the winter. As of today there is no sign of them, so it appears they did not survive the winter, even though it was one of the mildest winters on record. I planted them between two garlic beds and the garlic is doing fine - a 100% stand and 6" to 10" above the mulch.

TomNJ

[fortyonenorth]

My I'itois made it through with flying colors with no special protection. They never did fully die-back to the ground. Right now they're 6-8" tall and putting out a flush of new growth. Like marktutt, our midwest winter was extraordinarily mild - didn't get much below 15 deg. whereas we typically have at least a couple of sub-zero days.

[b54red]

Suze I didn't get mine planted as early in the fall as my regular multiplying onions so some of the bulbs were too dried out but the rest came up great. Do they die back and dry up like most multipliers in the summer or do you leave them in the ground? I love their crispness compared to my other multipliers and I really like the flavor.