07/14/06 Getting Sweet On Onions

Getting sweet on onions. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. It's time to celebrate in Walla Walla. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival gets underway with loads of food, art and music. Kathy Fry with the festival says there are lots of things to do. FRY: The Walla Walla Sweet Onion story began nearly a century ago on the Island of Corsica, off the west coast of Italy. It was there that a French soldier, Peter Pieri, found a sweet onion seed and brought it to Walla Walla in the late 1800`s. This "French" onion developed over several generations through the process of carefully hand selecting onions from each year`s crop, ensuring exceptional sweetness, jumbo size, and round shape. Today`s growers realize they`re not just raising sweet onions, but cultivating a tradition. Fry says the Walla Walla onions are very special. FRY: For more information visit the website at www.sweetonions.org. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.