When it comes to Vidalia onions and farming in general, Bo Herndon has always been an innovator. In 2014, Herndon Farms began growing organic leafy greens, opening the door to also start growing organic Vidalia onions as part of its 2015 program.

“We’ve seen we can grow organic greens in the fall, this is our first time around with organic Vidalias and the crop looks good so far,” said Sales and Marketing Manager John Williams. “There’s more and more demand — you can see increased square footage in retail being given to organic items and it is a nice program to be a part of.

Bo Herndon of Herndon Country Farms in Lyons, GA, with Mary Blackmon of Farm Star Living at SEPC's Southern Exposure. (Photo by Chip Carter)The organics join Herndon’s conventional Vidalia and thriving Georgia red and “baby” Vidalia onion lines.

This year’s Vidalia crop “is looking really good given the winter we’ve had,” Williams said. “It’s been really cold, but the tops are nice and healthy right now. We had a lot of rain recently too but everything seems to be surviving and doing well.”

Meanwhile, Herndon’s other programs are expanding, including its well-known greens and sweet potato lines.

“We’re managing our growth,” Williams said. “Everything’s handled in house with us, we grow it, we sell everything we grow. And that formula works best for us.”

Demand for Herndon’s “Lil’ Bo’s Petite Sweet Vidalia Onions” is consistent again this year, said Williams. “Stores have done well to get their customers hooked on them and so you have loyal customers that keep coming back. They really start to move this time of year because people think of them as a spring onion. We started right after Thanksgiving and we’ve been shipping them every week. We hope to go to the end of April, maybe May depending on how hot it gets.”

Herndon has also increased the size of its Georgia red onion crop. And, “We had our best crop this year as far as sizing and shape for sweet potatoes, we shipped more potatoes than we’ve shipped and we’re setting up to increase our acreage for next year. We have had nice support for the Georgia Grown sweet potato with our customers and we’ll be back in September with new crop.”