Sweet & Crunchy Walla Walla Pearl Onions

Being a casual dabbler in the home-gardening front, I periodically ask myself why do I want to grow what I am planting in my garden right now? Why this plant vs. that (for the annuals)? And there is usually no logical answer.

Some are my favorite (eggplant, chilies, green beans) and usually work out cheaper if successfully grown at home, some just don't grow in the native soil and weather, and some others (like tomatoes) I can them for the winter months knowing it is organic, pesticide-free.

Although potatoes and onions are dirt cheap almost year round, I still love the onions in my garden. And this is why:

1. it is the Walla Walla variety, which is less pungent, mildly sweet, crisply fresh and a bit more expensive than the regular yellow onions;
2.  I get to pick them young as Pearl Onions (not the true pearl onion variety, of course) and savor them in many recipes (Pearl onions can get quite expensive in my local markets); 
3. plus there's always plenty of scallions for garnish.

We've been harvesting the onions from the garden since last Spring, replanting some, saving the seeds from some and so on. The 7-year-old at home usually likes this job - to dig up onions from the garden - as long as I set the limit, say, "Fill up this basket" or "Get about 20 onions" or something specific.

When the onions refuse to grow, I guess it will be time to give up this addiction to the Sweet & Crunchy Walla Walla Pearl Onions and move on.

One of the recent batches became a delicious jar of pickled onions - vinegar, salt, a hint of sugar, some black pepper and dried red chilies: boil for about 5 minutes, cool and store in the fridge.