I love green onions, but they are pricey, and I have had little luck getting them to last very long in the fridge. So I did some Googling and found some interesting results:
I have stored them in the fridge with the paper towel wrap in bag method I have done with fresh herbs in the past and it was “ok”, but I got some Oxo herb keepers for Xmas which have yet to use. The “inch of water in the window sill” method sounds interesting (I get a lot of sun in the kitchen window sill during Winter).
Any of you tried anything like this?
Also, regarding growing more from the root ends… do they need to eventually go in soil, or can you just keep growing them in water?
For years we used the paper towel method, the water/baggie tenting method and to our surprise wrapping scallions, leeks, fresh herbs, celery and lettuce all did well and extended the life wrapping in tin foil.
Water method, you need to chg the water daily. Plastic got smelly. Glass trapped odors but didn’t extend the life/freshness.
I keep them for about a week or, embarrassingly, considerably longer simply in their market plastic bags. I use both whole scallions and almost daily a long green leaf sliced over a plate for finishing. While they are best new, I’ve never needed to throw any out. Maybe it depends on the quality you start with or how fast you use them. But they always find their way into something we’re cooking or plating.
Green onions vary in price, of course, by season. In summer, they go for 3 bunches/$1. At the moment, mid-February, they are as high as $1.19 a bunch. Husband went ballistic several years ago when he noticed this mid-winter price and has been growing them in a tub outdoors. Easy peasy but you have to remember to sow as you harvest.
The “root ends in filtered water in the window sill” method is working well here so far. Going on five days and AFAICT they are better now than they were when I bought them.
I used most of them last night, and the root ends I cut off and put in a small glass of water are already starting to grow.
Happy camper so far. Looks like I may actually be able to keep these on hand like I can with regular onions.
Yeah, I do that with a number of herbs like parsley and cilantro. But these were in the window sill and I am a bit flabergasted at how they’ve improved over the last 5 days.
Just cut the last two up for pineapple fried rice tonight and they were firmer (all the way up to the green end) than when I bought them. Extraordinary.
Thanks. Just to be clear… you’re suggesting storing celery with the same method (“root ends in filtered water in the window sill” )? And do you need the root end of the celery to do this, or will cut stalks from the root also work?
These scallions were picked from our garden on May 2. They’ve been kept in the fridge, in a glass of water, with a green bag. I got into them today, May 14. Good as new!
