2024 UMaine Extension Onion Order
It’s Onion Time!
Last year over 51,000 plants were donated to Maine Harvest for Hunger projects. Even if you don’t order onions, you can donate any amount but read the instructions carefully. We cannot at this time earmark a specific donation to a specific project. We did manage to cover all projects last year and hope to do so again this year.
About the UMaine Extension Onion Order
This order form is for personal onion orders only.
It is open to Master Gardener Volunteers, their friends and families, and all UMaine Extension personnel and their family and friends. Onion plants can be picked up at any Extension office, you choose the office for your pick-up. You will pay for the onions when you order them. You can create an order to share with family and friends in case the full bunches are more than you can handle on your own. This truly is the best price in town and the proceeds go to a great cause. If you have a friend or family member who wishes to order then please share the Website with them and remind them that orders are due Jan 26, 2024.
Since 2017 the Harvest for Hunger Program has made a bulk onion order form available to Master Gardeners and used the proceeds from those sales to subsidize onion plants for Harvest for Hunger Projects to grow onions for their community.
We work directly with the growers at Dixondale Farms in Texas to buy bulk bunches of onion plants. We have taken the guesswork out of what will grow here in Maine. We have had the same prices since 2019 but this year we did have to raise prices by a small amount, as the grower has had to raise their prices.
- The varieties that are offered in full bunches (50-75 plants per bunch/ $5), are the easiest and most popular to grow.
- The plants offered in half bunches (25-30 plants/$3) are novelty or specialty varieties.
- We offer two specialty onion varieties, Shallots and Leeks, at a tremendous price (30 plants/$5.50).
Order Deadline: Friday, January 26, 2024
Pickup locations:
Onion plants can be picked up at the Extension office you choose, on the following dates:
- Androscoggin/Sagadahoc: 24 Main Street, Lisbon Falls, ME 04252-1505
- Cumberland: 75 Clearwater Drive, Suite 104, Falmouth, ME 04105
- Franklin: 138 Pleasant Street, Suite #1, Farmington, ME 04938-5828
- Kennebec: 125 State Street, 3rd Floor, Augusta, ME 04330-5692
- Oxford: 9 Olson Road, South Paris, ME 04281-6402
- York: 15 Oak Street, Suite 302, Springvale, ME 04083
- Hancock & Washington: 63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth, ME 04605-9540
- Knox-Lincoln: 377 Manktown Road, Waldoboro, ME 04572
- Penobscot: 307 Maine Avenue, Bangor, ME 04401-4331
- Piscataquis: Court House Complex, 165 East Main Street, Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426-1396
- Somerset: 7 County Drive, Skowhegan, ME 04976-4209
- Waldo: 992 Waterville Road, Waldo, ME 04915-3117
- Aroostook:
- 57 Houlton Rd., Presque Isle, ME 04769
- 18 Military Street, Houlton, ME 04730-0008
- 34 Armory Road, Suite 101, Fort Kent, ME 04743-7131
Projects:
Note to Project Coordinators: Do not order for projects on this order form. If you coordinate a Maine Harvest for Hunger community garden, school garden, etc, and grow food for Harvest for Hunger, and ordered last year, your project request order form link will be sent to you at a later date (late January). If you manage a project and did not order last year, please contact Lynne Holland: (email lynne.holland@maine.edu or call 207.581.8211) by January 20 to get added to the list.
If you are not already listed as a Maine Harvest for Hunger Project you can contact your county coordinator and they will get you added to the list of projects. We will cover as many projects as possible this year as we have funds, a $10 donation can mean a couple of hundred pounds of onions this summer.
Pay it Forward
The “Pay it Forward” option is back and we hope you will support our many projects with free onion plants. Last year over 51,000 plants were donated to Maine Harvest for Hunger projects. Even if you don’t order onions, you can donate any amount but read the instructions carefully. We cannot at this time earmark a specific donation to a specific project. We did manage to cover all projects last year and hope to do so again this year.
Onions:
The following are the easiest to grow and offered in full bunches of 50-75 plants for $5.00 per bunch:
- Ailsa Craig (Dixondale Farms)
- Long Day Sampler Onion Plants (a mix of Walla Walla, Ringmaster, and Redwing varieties)
- Patterson
- Red Zeppelin
The following are offered in half – bunches of 25-30 plants for $3.00 per bunch:
- Red Torpedo Tropea
- Borettana Cippollini
- Yellow Spanish Onion
Lancelot Leeks and Traditional Shallots are sold in half-bunches of 25-30 plants for $5.50 per bunch.
Place your order:
If you need technical assistance with this order form or payment using the order form, please contact us at extension.gardening@maine.edu, call 207.581.3188 or toll-free 1.800.287.0274 (in Maine).
How to Grow Onions
There are three ways to grow onions, from seed, from a set, or from a plant (Video: The Three Ways to Grow Onions: Seed, Sets, or Transplants, Dixondale Farms, YouTube). If you have never grown onions we have a great resource to help you succeed from our friends at UNH (Blog Post: How do I get my onions to grow bigger?, UNH Extension).
If you purchase onions from us, you will receive periodic reminder emails about what to be doing throughout the season to have a successful crop.
Once You’ve Grown Onions, a Recipe for You:
Dixondale Farms offers its very own Slow Cooker 5 Onion Soup recipe on its website.
If you are a person with a disability and need an accommodation to participate in this program, or would like to discuss any other barriers to participation, please email lynne.holland@maine.edu or call Lynne Holland at 207.581.8211 or 800.287.1458 (in Maine) to discuss your needs. Receiving requests for accommodations at least 10 days before the program provides a reasonable amount of time to meet the request, however, all requests will be considered.
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