Saturday, September 5, 2009







Walla Walla Sweet Onions, if you have never been to Walla Walla to see the fields and fields for your self , you should go! It is awesome, now for some history on the onion!


The Walla Walla Sweet Onion is another crop with a rich tradition. Over a century ago on the

Island of Corsica, off the west coast of Italy, a French soldier named Peter Pieri found an Italian sweet onion seed and brought it to the Walla Walla Valley. Impressed by the new onion's winter hardiness, Pieri, and the Italian immigrant farmers who comprised much of Walla Walla's gardening industry, harvested the seed. The sweet onion developed over several generations through the process of carefully hand selecting onions from each year's crop, ensuring exceptional sweetness, jumbo size and round shape.


The Walla Walla Sweet Onion is also designated under federal law as a protected agricultural crop. In 2007, the Walla Walla Sweet Onion became Washington's official state vegetable.



Walla Walla Sweet Onions get their sweetness from low sulfur content, which is half that of an ordinary yellow onion. Walla Walla Sweets are 90 percent water. That, combined with Walla Walla’s mild climate and rich soil, gives the onion its sweetness. The Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival is held annually in July.











1 comment:

  1. Oh I absolutely love the walla walla onions, they are so mild and sweet!

    ReplyDelete