You made many valuable points in your gardening update.
I would do exactly what you're doing in your charcoal approach. Sixty years ago and more, my long ago late Grandma burned and buried a lot of wood and created coal. We lived on Long Island then. Grandpa was an avid fisherman and the heads of fish were chopped off, buried a foot in the soil and then covered with slate to keep out animals. The slate were spaced four feet apart aiding the planting of tomatoes. Also, after storms, we would drive down to the Atlantic Ocean after a storm to gather washed-up seaweed for the garden beds and it work great. [I cannot burn within my city, even leaves.]
I remember your picture below and drying it out in the sun. I dried most of my onions the recommended Dixondale way; they did well. BUT a portion that I left in the sun did much better, just the way that you tried with your fence drying. This season, I will dry half outside and half hanging in the garage to complete this experiment.
For my onion cooking needs, I will try the Unique Varieties offered by Dixondale; these are smaller in size. Plus I will grow shallots [long-day variety] and leeks for my Asian neighbors.
I had fifteen inches of snow last Thursday and tomorrow it should be 50*F tomorrow. I'm getting the itch too.
I'm finishing off my cellar to add more shelves in the basement for food storage. My garage will be re-structured to better age my garlic. I have a younger man doing the primary work on each Tuesday morning and he gives me assignments for the next six days until his return.
My freezer in the refrigerator is filled with pesto, grape tomatoes and beans from my harvest. This year I will finally be preserving tomatoes.
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