Alan NeSmith
Here’s to Mose Coleman! It all began in his garden in 1931. You see, Mose decided to plant some Bermuda onions. Then at harvest time, when he knocked the dirt off and sliced one, his sweet tooth smiled.
Mose was expecting the hot taste of a traditional onion, but it was his sweet tooth that was delighted.
Ole Mose shared his harvest and seeds with friends. Then the next growing season in Toombs County, more sweet onions found their way to local kitchens. Soon, roadside stands popped up where people traveling down or up U.S. Highway 1 could buy a bag of this rare vegetable commonly known as “those sweet onions from Vidalia.”
It took decades for the new agricultural discovery to reach the masses, but, fortunately, word did get out. Piggly Wiggly was the first franchise grocery store to carry the onion. Our Georgia state legislature passed the “Vidalia Onion Act of 1986.” It permitted a trademark for “Vidalia Onions,” which limits the production to 20 counties in Georgia.
What makes the onion so sweet? The secret has three parts. South Georgia has mild winters, regular rain and low sulfur levels in the soil. Long periods of freezing temperature won’t allow Vidalia onions to grow and they need plenty of water, at exact increments since 80 percent of it is water. The only counties in Georgia that can grow certified Vidalia onions are Emanuel, Candler, Treutlen, Bulloch, Wheeler, Montgomery, Evens, Tattnall, Toombs, Telfair, Je• Davis, Appling, Bacon and portions of Jenkins, Screven, Laurens, Dodge, Pierce, Wayne and Long.
Growing up in Southeast Georgia, I developed a craving of Vidalia onions as a child. If there is anything that can make a homemade, hand-patted hamburger any better, it’s a slice of sweet onion. Gracious, they’re good!
Last Friday, I called my good friend and Vidalia onion farmer Blake Dasher. It’s become a tradition for us to buy a ton and a half of sweet onions from Blake and bring them back to Habersham County. Steve Wright made the trip for us this year Monday. This time of year, we give a 6-pound bag to customers who renew or buy a new subscription to their local paper, The Northeast Georgian.
Folks, we have a good stock of fresh from the dirt, sweet onions now, but they’re going fast. Come on in today!
Alan NeSmith is the chairman of Community Newspapers Inc. Reach him at 706-778-4215 or anesmith@thenortheastgeorgian.com