The cocktail onion.

• Sow all year.
  
• Germination time: 10-14 days. Can be longer in winter.
  
• The first ever purple-red skinned mini onion. A quick growing, very tasty onion which can be harvested as spring onions with purple pearl ends or later as a cocktail or pickling onions. Cooked or pickled they turn an attractive pastel pink colour.
  
• Prepare bed thoroughly, preferably in the sunniest spot in the garden. Give a good dressing of lime, especially in sandy soils. Scatter a balanced fertiliser and rake in. Sow in 10cm bands, 1cm deep and 1cm apart. For smallest sizes, do not thin.