What are Egyptian walking onions?

I posted a video on IGTV (Instagram TV) the other day, about one of my favorite edible and decorative garden plants.

The Egyptian Walking onion, so named, because to make new plants, the sets that grow on top of a mature stalk, get heavy and bend over and grow there. So, it appears to walk across the garden, in slow motion.

First of all, every part is edible. You can use the early spring growth as scallions. You can dig up a clump and use the bigger white parts in anything that calls for onion. They tend to have a little more bite than a regular onion.

But, I must confess, that for the most part, I keep them around because I love how they look, how easily they grow, and for companion planting in my vegetable garden.

Even though they propagate easily, they don’t become invasive. Once you dig up a clump, it’s gone. It won’t grow again. If you trim off some of the green, like scallions, it will grow from that root. You can also eat the itty bitty sets that grow on top, if you like peeling. I tried pickling them once, but it was too labor intensive for the result. I have thrown them into a jar of pickled green beans, however, unpeeled, for flavor.

The video I posted is on Instagram. I’ll include the link here. And, if I figure it out again, I’ll post the video IN this blog post. Now, isn’t that all fancy?

Your friend,
Anne Dovel