Sweet Onions in Walla Walla

Before Walla Walla became known for wine, it was famous for something else: “Home of the onion so sweet you can eat it like an apple.”

Section:Gallery

Sun., July 30, 2017

Jose Gasca, working in an onion field in Touchet, Washington, lifts and trims the roots and stalks of Walla Walla sweet onions, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Only a handful of farmers still raise the special onions named after the largest town of the region.

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Farm workers stop for a break in an onion field in Touchet, Washington, Tuesday, June 28, 2017. Mostly Hispanic workers manually lift and trim thousands of pounds of the popular seasonal onions every day.

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Many passersby mistake sweet onion stalks for corn stalks but these future Walla Walla sweets will grow until they’re ready, at which point the stalks will wilt and lie over on the ground. This field is in Touchet, Washington.

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Jose Gasca, working in an onion field in Touchet, Washington, lifts and trims the roots and stalks of Walla Walla sweet onions, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Only a handful of farmers still raise the special onions named after the largest town of the region.

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A farm worker squints against the blowing dust and dumps a box of sweet onions into a bin that will be hauled to a local packing shed, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. The onions are first undercut by a tractor-drawn implement, then workers lift, trim and load them onto trucks.

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Farm workers lift and trim Walla Walla sweet onions on the rolling hills of Touchet, Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Walla Walla sweet onions are protected as a unique product that are only grown in the Walla Walla area.

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Farmer Michael J. Locati looks at the harvest, loaded into a bin which will haul his sweet onions to the packing shed, Wednesday, June 28, 2017 in Touchet, Washington. Locati is from one of several Italian families that have raised the Walla Walla sweets.

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Sweet onions appear ready to harvest, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in a field in Touchet, Washington. When the sweet onions are ready, the stalks lie over on the ground.

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Farmer Michael Locati cuts open a jumbo sweet onion in a field in Touchet, Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

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After arriving from the field and being dried, onions are sorted for size and trained eyes look for defects, such as nicks made during harvest. The Walla Walla River Packing Company packs most of the sweet onions from Walla Walla onion fields.

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Walla Walla sweet onions are weighed and scrubbed at an automated part of the packing line at Walla Walla River Packing Company, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. The local sweet onions have been a signature crop for this corner of Washington state, but production and visibility is down from its height many years ago.

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Harry Hamada stands in front of a new automated onion packing machine which will soon start up at Walla Walla River Packing Company, which he manages to pack the sweet onions grown by his family and a few others. The Hamada family came to the Walla Walla region impoverished after World War II internment, growing their role in the onion business slowly after starting as field workers. The automation will help combat the rising costs of labor in the farm industry.

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Junior Lozano, left, and Diego Lara pack 40 lb. cartons of sweet onions at the Walla Walla River Packing Company, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. Once the signature product of the Walla Walla region, sweet onion production is down from its height 20-30 years ago.

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A partially automated packing line produces several thousand bags of Walla Walla sweet onions at the Walla Walla River Packing Company, Tuesday, June 27, 2017.

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Workers at the Walla Walla River Packing Company load fresh Walla Walla sweet onions onto a refrigerated truck at their packing plant near Walla Walla, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. The plant processes the majority of sweet onions in the region. When they arrive from the field, they are put in the drying shed to dry out the stems to help preserve them for their trip to market.

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On the side streets of Walla Walla, signs and stands pop up as soon as the sweet onions start coming in from the fields, shown Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

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Refrigerator trucks back up to loading docks and load up to take Walla Walla sweet onions to market, Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at the Walla Walla River Packing and Storage facility. Manager and partner Harry Hamada says farmers realized many years ago that they needed to be involved in packing their product to break even, so Hamada’s family and other farmers partnered in the packing end of the business.

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The iconic and historic Marcus Whitman Hotel, named after an area pioneer, has benefited by the growing wine tourism in the Southeast Washington town of Walla Walla, shown Tuesday, June 27, 2017. Wine and tourism overshadow the area’s eponymous product, sweet onions.

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On banners hung around downtown Walla Walla, Washington, the graphics reference the towns icons, including wine and sweet onions, shown Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Sweet onion production is decreased from its height a few decades ago. These days, wineries draw many more people to the region.

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The historic downtown and the growing winery business are drawing wine tourism to the southeast Washington town of Walla Walla, shown Tuesday, June 27, 2017. Wine and tourism overshadow the area’s eponymous product, sweet onions.

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The historic downtown and the growing winery business are drawing wine tourism to the Southeast Washington town of Walla Walla, shown Tuesday, June 27, 2017. Wine and tourism overshadow the area’s eponymous product, sweet onions.

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Sole promotion representative Kathy Fry-Trommald of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee takes a break from packing up her office in the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce building, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. She is retiring after 17 years as executive director of the Walla Walla sweet onion industry association. Her duties are being handed over to a professional management group that promotes several products.

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Kathy Fry-Trommald points out the many onion-related events she has planned through her 17 years as the promoter of sweet onions from Walla Walla, shown Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at her office in the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce building. But she was dismantling her office in preparation for retiring and her duties, such as promoting the Walla Walla onions, going to food trade shows and organizing the onion festival in town, are being handed over to a professional organization that will handle many different products.

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A few leftover promotional materials are found in the office of sweet onion promoter Kathy Fry-Trommald in the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce office, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. For decades, the promotion effort has been funded by an assessment on the growers of the eponymous product of the region. Fry-Trommald is retiring and fewer growers are available to pay into the promotion effort.

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At a rural corner in farm country, a large winery tasting room and signs pointing to other wineries vie for visitors’ attention, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. The countryside around Walla Walla, Washington is dotted with dozens of wineries, attracting oenophiles and vacationers to the region for tasting and shopping.

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With a basket of onions nearby, Kathy Fry-Trommald looks up information for a reporter, information gathered during her 17 years as the promoter of sweet onions from Walla Walla, shown Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at her office in the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce building. But she was dismantling her office in preparation for retiring and her duties, including attending food trade shows and organizing the onion festival in town, are being handed over to a professional organization that will handle many different products.

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