Dug them up, shook off excess dirt, left the long tops intact-this is what you braid. After letting them dry out a bit, (several days in a hot garage on an old screen door) the tops krinkle turning brown with a tiny bit of green down in the onion tops for strength.
southpaw (plural southpaws) (informal) One who is left-handed, especially in sports. (baseball) A left-handed pitcher. Since home plate is generally in the southwest corner to avoid glare in the batter's eyes, a southpaw's pitching hand is to the south. (one who is left-handed): left-hander, lefty.
The term southpaw can be traced back to the 1880s when Chicago Daily News sports reporter Finley Peter Dunne coined the term when covering the then-named Chicago White Stockings games. Dunne was known for giving colorful play-by-play and when a left-handed pitcher came on the field, he described him as a southpaw..