Shallot harvest

[TZ -OH6]

Here is my shallot harvest today from (I think) about 20 sets spaced about a foot apart in all directions (5x5 bed approx). Total harvest was over 200 bulbs. I planted the largest bulbs from the previous harvest in late fall/early winter, but I think I put them in too deep and may have screwed up the skins. We'll see how they store after curing.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/51251503@N ... 431427232/

[Hispoptart]

oh yummy they look great!

[jal_ut]

That is exciting. I planted shallots last fall for the first time. I haven't harvested yet. It will be interesting to see how they did. Thanks for sharing.

[applestar]

Nice! I have just one shallot growing. I happened to have a left over clove in the pantry when I was planting onion sets, so I said why not?

[TZ -OH6]

Shallots seem to be an odd bird for home gardeners. They are expensive as all get out at the store, but easy (easier than onions?) to grow, but not a lot of people seem to grow them based on the level of expertise given to forum questions. You can't get a definite answer on which to plant, large bulbs or small?, exactly how deep to plant, best time to harvest etc. everybody seems to be newbies whereas with onions you get a dozen people who have grown them for 30 years giving you great info.


I want to get my hands on some Potato onions, which have got to be easier to deal with than regular onions.

[soil]

nice harvest, i just pulled up my shallots too. about 400 shallots and oh do they taste good!

[applestar]

Now I'm trying to remember WHY I haven't really tried to grow them.... Could it be they're not as winter hardy? Are you supposed to plant them in the fall?
Hm... I think one year, I shallots didn't make the cut because I was trying different kinds of garlic and extra seeds. (I usually have a heart attack when I finally check the "shopping cart" and the subtotal, and have to whittle it down some... ) There must be regionally appropriate varieties with shallots as with onions and garlic. Hmm....

[garden5]

TZ, the pic's great! How deep did you plant them? Was it just a bulb or did it have greens?

Thanks a lot.

[TZ -OH6]

I have a long handled trowel that I poke holes in the soil for garlic and shallots. I thought that the soil would settle down by harvest so I poked the holes a bit deep trying to estimate where the top of the garlic would be after the ground settling (holes maybe 5 inches deep). I mulched heavily, with around 5-6 inches of shredded fall leaves, and the ground didn't settle so the garlic was around 4 inches deep to the top of the bulb and the shallots bulbs were all the way underground instead of on top like they were supposed to be. I think next time I will poke a hole just deep enough for the top of the shallot bulb to be even with the surface and then scrape some more dirt over it in a bit of a raised row that can fall away later in the summer.

I planted in the late fall so the shallots hadn't started to sprout indoors yet. They were the last of the ones I had pulled up that summer, and many several had started to rot which is why I planted before winter instead of trying to keep them until spring. It got down into the single digits for a few days last winter but the strawberries, shallots and garlic didn't mind. They were all under heavy leaf mulch, which this year I am going to apply after sprouting (but befor snow) so I don't have to "un mulch" twisted yellow leaves in the spring.

[731greener101]

Is it me....or maybe its the soil but the sea-green color and anemone-like structure is almost as good as the harvest.Greener

[jal_ut]

My friend who gave me the shallots to plant, said, "Treat them just like garlic." Which meant to plant the large ones, and plant them in the fall. Some of mine are blooming. I guess I will wait until the tops fall and start to turn brown, to harvest, as with onions. They are, after all, an onion.

[applestar]

... If you Ctrl-Cmd Click the mouse (which I believe is Rt Click for Windows) over the image in Flickr, you can get the Link Location for the image that you can put between the img codes....

Some of those shallots would've been great in the fried rice I just had.... (I had to make do with a Yellow Granex that only grew to golf-ball size.... )

[garden5]

... If you Ctrl-Cmd Click the mouse (which I believe is Rt Click for Windows) over the image in Flickr, you can get the Link Location for the image that you can put between the img codes....

Some of those shallots would've been great in the fried rice I just had.... (I had to make do with a Yellow Granex that only grew to golf-ball size.... )

Oh, yeah, Apps, how are your from-seed onions doing? My store-bought sets are looking like nice onions, but my seed-started ones are just starting to bulb.

BTW...yellow granex is a short day variety, that's why it only got to the size of a golf ball.

I did the same thing last year and harvested about 20 golf balls and 5 marbles

[applestar]

Yeah but the catalog description led me astray:

. A few tips for northern gardeners: plant Yellow Granex early (by mid-April) and provide consistent moisture. Its degree of sweetness or pungency will vary depending on your climate and garden soil. (OP.)

I'm starting not to like kitchengardenseeds....

I'm FINALLY rid of those seeds so I can get some REAL onion seeds for next year.

[TZ -OH6]

I just picked up two packs of Granex seeds at Tractor Supply because there was nothing on the pack (Ferry Morse) about short day, only planting dates for different parts of the country (March-May for me). If I plant in May they will start to bulb the day after sprouting.