I don't have much experience with growing shallots, but this variety did well enough for me last year, so I thought "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and went for the same again. Last year's crop mostly ended up being pickled, like this:
It's still too early to plant shallots, I think. I have read that if you plant them too early they are likely to bolt, so I'll leave it for a while. Last year I sowed mine on 2nd March, which seemed just about right, so for the time being my sets will live in the garage, where it is cool but frost-free.
The 500g bag contained 26 individual bulbs. Last year one or two were soft and not viable, but this year they all seem OK, although one has actually sprouted green shoots already.
In the catalogue these shallots were described as "copper-skinned". I think my next photo demonstrates the truth of this quite well.
They are also described as having pink-tinged flesh, robust flavour and good storage potential. What more could you want?
Last year my crop was "OK, but could do better". The bulbs were good in terms of quality, but not as big as I would have liked. I think maybe I planted the sets too close together. I used a spacing of about 20cm. This year I'll increase that to about 25cm and see if they do any better. I think it is also probably fairly important to give the shallots an open site, where they can benefit from plenty of sunshine (if we get any, that is...). Do any readers have any advice to offer on this?
We start ours off in small pots in the cold greenhouse. I've not heard that planting early can make them bolt. As I understand it it is down to temperature. Some of ours bolted last year which I put down to a warmish early period followed by cold wet weather which fooled the plants into thinking that the season had passed by quicker than it had!
ReplyDeleteHot dry weather can have a similar effect but that was hardly the case last year.
I was always under the impression you planted these at the end of Feb. A few of my onions bolted last year and I guess that was for the same reason as Sue outlined above. I don't know much about shallots though but I do want to try some this year.
ReplyDeleteWe plant shallots in Autumn here but then our climate is a lot milder. Like Sue I start them in small pots and plant out once they sprout. I find this useful because then I can slot them into gaps rather than devote large parts of a bed to them. I pickled a lot of my crop last year too and that went down very well with 'him who doesn't eat veg'. As for size, not sure mine were smaller this year than last year, it was colder but they also had less space. Can't remember previous years (that's why I have to blog on these things while i remember them....).
ReplyDeleteNo advice Mark but if you are going to plant yours at the beginning of March then so shall I. I did put some fancy french ones in last Autumn & I think they are beginning to sprout.
ReplyDeleteHow did the pickles turn out?
ReplyDeleteDavid, the pickled shallots were really good. There are only a few left, but they are still very crisp even after several months.
DeleteI usually start mine off in pots in the greenhouse, but I haven't got any yet this year. I used to get my onions and shallots from the local nursery but it's closed down now so I'm looking for another source.
ReplyDeleteI start mine off in 3" pots in mid-December in a cold greenhouse and plant out mid-March. Those pickles look good, I use the larger ones in cooking and the smaller ones are pickled in balsamic vinegar and are very tasty!
ReplyDeleteI don't know when to pull up my shallots! This is my first time of planting them.I am going to pickle most of them.
ReplyDeleteI have played shallots for the first time this year. As I live "up north" I planted in my raised beds in about April. I think they seem to be doing ok but I don't know when to lift them. Any advice? I am going to pickle most of them.
ReplyDeleteMaggie; Wait until the leaves have shrivelled up and gone brown - or mostly so - then dig up the hallots and dry them thoroughly. Use the "Search this blog" facility to find a blogpost I did last Summer which is about this, and about pickling them too.
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