The Elusive Onion
2010
The Elusive Onion
>>>>
The ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign was launched on the BBC’s Home Service by the UK’s first celebrity gardener, C.H. Middleton. 3.5 million people tuned in every month to listen to his gardening bulletins. In 1942 his reflections were collected in the form of a book, ‘Digging for Victory.’
Under the month of January, Middleton wrote a witty and rather endearing essay entitled ‘The Elusive Onion’. In this text he comments that “There have been many jokes made about the good old onion, but it’s like a good many other things, we fail to appreciate its qualities until it becomes almost unobtainable, and then we sit up and take notice.” He also adds, “Undoubtedly the onion is one of the most popular and useful vegetables we grow. No savoury dish is complete without it’s pungent influence. It is also a very wholesome vegetable, and in spite of its after effects and other disadvantages we should be very sorry to be without it.”
Middleton goes on to say that if the onion is not the oldest cultivated vegetable then it is one of the oldest. This is true. He also guesses that they are from Egypt or North Africa and so the soil and climate of that part of the world should give some clues to its growing requirements. Middleton continues with a personal reflection on the successful growing and harvesting of the onion.
At one point, Middleton reminds the reader to think about the most efficient and economical way to establish young onions. “It saves seed, too, and this, I think, is where local Associations can do a useful work, by sowing seeds communally and distributing the plants instead of packets of seed, or, as in the case of my own small society, by arranging them with a nurseryman to raise them for us.” Thus communal endeavours in the production of food during the war was considered a useful and important hallmark of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign.
In 1945 another book by Middleton’s was published, “Dig On For Victory - Middleton’s All The Year Round Gardening Guide and Encyclopedia of Gardening.” This book gave a week by week plan of work to be done in the allotment and garden. This book offers more insights into the production of onions.
>>>>
The ‘Dig For Victory’ campaign was launched on the BBC’s Home Service by the UK’s first celebrity gardener, C.H. Middleton. 3.5 million people tuned in every month to listen to his gardening bulletins. In 1942 his reflections were collected in the form of a book, ‘Digging for Victory.’
Under the month of January, Middleton wrote a witty and rather endearing essay entitled ‘The Elusive Onion’. In this text he comments that “There have been many jokes made about the good old onion, but it’s like a good many other things, we fail to appreciate its qualities until it becomes almost unobtainable, and then we sit up and take notice.” He also adds, “Undoubtedly the onion is one of the most popular and useful vegetables we grow. No savoury dish is complete without it’s pungent influence. It is also a very wholesome vegetable, and in spite of its after effects and other disadvantages we should be very sorry to be without it.”
Middleton goes on to say that if the onion is not the oldest cultivated vegetable then it is one of the oldest. This is true. He also guesses that they are from Egypt or North Africa and so the soil and climate of that part of the world should give some clues to its growing requirements. Middleton continues with a personal reflection on the successful growing and harvesting of the onion.
At one point, Middleton reminds the reader to think about the most efficient and economical way to establish young onions. “It saves seed, too, and this, I think, is where local Associations can do a useful work, by sowing seeds communally and distributing the plants instead of packets of seed, or, as in the case of my own small society, by arranging them with a nurseryman to raise them for us.” Thus communal endeavours in the production of food during the war was considered a useful and important hallmark of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign.
In 1945 another book by Middleton’s was published, “Dig On For Victory - Middleton’s All The Year Round Gardening Guide and Encyclopedia of Gardening.” This book gave a week by week plan of work to be done in the allotment and garden. This book offers more insights into the production of onions.
