Onions

Onions are very climate and soil sensitive, so European onions had to be adapted selectively to local growing conditions. Kitchen gardens of the eighteenth century tended to rely on imported onions for seed stock because seeds saved from domestically grown onions often deteriorated. After the Revolutionary War growers started adapting varieties to different American climates. Many of the onion varieties in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were derived from the imported English globe onion and were suited for the cooler New England and Mid-Atlantic climates. Other varieties, successful in southern conditions, were developed from Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian stock. A few of these heirlooms are still grown.