For the gardeners among us it is that time of year to harvest and store the onions. This year,faced with a bumper crop of about 150lbs I found my usual method - popping them into the legs of my old tights and hanging them in the garage- was no use. My supply of old tights was zero as I have worn trousers for most of the past year.
Sooooooooo I searched the internet and found the following on another forum-Allotment-uk.
There are probably other and better ways of doing an onion plait, but at least I can say that mine haven't fallen apart yet and this is the third year I've been doing them... 
I'm assuming you know how to plait stuff. If not, start by practicing (schoolgirls are useful for this if you can catch one ; otherwise try cord, ribbon or wool).
You need onions that have been ripened after harvesting for a day or two (so the leaves have gone floppy and the roots have dried out). If the leaves have gone like straw they're brittle and hard to plait.
You can't use onions that have bolted (stiff necks) and you shouldn't use damaged ones as they could rot and infect their neighbours.
Take a long piece of cord, strong string or something like it: (I also have great success re-using long lengths of gift ribbon!) How long is a piece of string? Depends on the plait: I'd start with a five-foot length --you can always get more ambitious later.
I work on the floor to do this (it makes it easier when an onion rolls away and you've run out of hands!)
Choose three onions with nice long leaves to start with. Double up the cord in a V shape and cross two of those onions over at the point of the V with their leaves running the way of the two ends of the cord.
Overlay the third onion and make your first plait movement, treating the long lengths of cord as if they're an extension of the onion leaves running along them. Make sure the cords are pulled right through with each movement, or they'll tangle at the loose ends.
Now add the next onion, either to the right-hand strand of leaves or the left (whichever's more comfy; I'm a southpaw and work adding from the right).
Keep adding onions with every plaiting movement, always adding from the same side. This way, you add to every strand in turn.
Keep the plait tight. If your onions are fully ripened they should be nicely floppy at the neck so you can pull them in fairly firmly.
(Again, all this is easier to do on the floor).
Keep going till you either run out of onions or have only a short length of cord (10 inches or so) left on each side. Double over the onion leaves that are still unplaited to make the end strong and tidy; lash the cord round the doubled leaves (bring one end of cord clockwise, the other anti-clockwise). Tie the cord round the neck in a good knot (a reef knot is fine, as the cord will always be under tension) leaving enough cord to tie a loop in for hanging up your plait.
Because the cord runs right through the plait, it's very strong.
I now have ten rather wonky plaits hung in the garage but hopefully they will keep well.
This message was last edited by sandra on 22/08/2009.