to sammorgan
Here in our zone 3 area, I plant onion bulbs(sets) in the spring early May and they do well. The Rutabaga I grow from seed outdoors May 24 or so, they grow quite fast like a radish. I plant most of my onions from seed which I start inside and set out as transplants in mid may. The varieties I plant from seed are, Walla Walla, Candy, and Hendrix. The Rutagaga are "Laurentian".

Hi Sam,

I have previously purchased onion sets and rutabaga seeds from Veseys and have been very happy with them.(I purchase all my seed from Veseys.)

I always plant the sets and seeds directly into my garden May long weekend and get good growth out of both by the end of the summer. If I recall correctly I left the onions in until the frost killed the tops and had an average size of 3 - 3.5".

Rutabaga will get sweeter if left in the ground until the weather turns cool. I have planted Laurentian before and have harvested them as late as the end of September with some being as large as 8-9" in diameter.

Beware of the white cabbage butterfly if you've never grow rutabaga before. Many people use row covers to protect their plants from these pests. I find row covers cumbersome and just dust my plants with DE (diatomaceous earth) on a regular basis and it prevents a lot of damage.

If you don't plant the onions sets right away they need to be stored in a cold area otherwise they may start to sprout, mold, or dry out.