Anyone Convinced, to grow shallots?

[digitS']

a picture from a few years ago

There is a basket like this in the garage, just like there has been one for nearly 25 winters. They keep just fine in there - at least in the 2 garages where I've stored them during those winters .

I don't know a simpler way to add something savory (isn't that what we call it?) to make food special. I don't use it with garlic because it is kind of competitive. I may or may not use it with onions, usually not but I grow quite a lot of shallots each year.

They aren't any more difficult to grow than garlic and I've learned that some experts recommend fall planting for zone 6 and higher. I plant in the spring along with onion sets & spinach seed for my earliest things going into the garden. I really think that they would survive our winters, however. There seems to be a latitude issue with shallots. They may not do well in the South - I don't know.

Seed for the hybrid shallots is easily available and they are no more difficult to start than onions from seed. Once you've got the bulbs tho', you can allow them to reproduce that way.

The shallot harvest comes so early that I can put things like cucumber starts into their bed in July, pull the shallots soon after and get a good cucumber harvest beginning well before frost. I've also grown fall greens in those beds.

A real nice choice for the veggie or the herb garden too .

Steve

 

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

Gosh, I envy all those beautiful shallots and would love to have a basket of those beauties. I've tried growing them several times with very disappointing results - always planted in the early spring from sets. Come to think of it, I haven't had much luck with onion sets either. What am I doing wrong? Maybe next fall I'll try to plant them in a protected spot when I plant garlic and see if they make it through the winter. If we have snow cover all winter, I think they'd be fine under a thick blanket of chopped leaves/leaf mold. I have great success every year growing garlic (German Extra Hardy and Music) so I don't get it. I have no trouble growing leeks and scallions from seed either. Did you say you grow shallots from seed? Where do you get the seeds?

 

[Smart Red]

I grew shallots the past two years. This year they did really well. I planted shallots I'd purchased at the grocery store and got a goodly sized increase in the size and number of bulbs I harvested this year. My onions did better than usual for me as well this year or I probably could have said that shallots grow better for me than onions.

 

[digitS']

I don't really know what could go wrong with onion and shallot sets, MeggsyGardenGirl. I always feel that I'm kind of "cheating" growing the sets. There could be a few that fail to sprout because there just isn't enough life inside the set to get them started. Also, it seems to be widely understood that large sets are prone to bolting to seed. Beyond that, I don't know but kind of suspect that there is a risk of disease in soil that doesn't drain well. My soil doesn't have that problem - rather, it dries out too quickly!

Here I was back in July singing the praises of shallots again and tying it to a thread that was 2 years old: Shallots from Seed. I might just keep harping on this subject . My diet and culinary repertoire are simple but I feel that shallots give me a valuable ingredient that is just special.

I have bought seed from Johnny's and am pretty sure that I got the sets from Jung's, long ago. Jung's now has a shallot seed mix (link) that might be fun. They mention "mid to long-day types" and that makes me think again that shallots may not grow well south of some line -- but Hoodat grows them in San Diego! I can't figure it out but San Diego is a little further north than the "deep South."

Steve

 

[Jared77]

Tried growing onions & shallots 2 years ago. Was a flop for the most part. I planted them too deep I think & got a very poor return. No shallots & minimal onions. Didn't try them last year or this past summer either. I'm going to do it again I'd love a bulk of them to use over the winter, so I'm going to get it right. They were all from sets SOS take thy for what it is

 

[journey11]

I order from Jung's quite often, so I may have to add that to my list. I've wanted to try them for awhile now, but it's one of those things I always forget about if I haven't had time to sit down and plan well. I can't get them anywhere locally, so I need to order them from a catalog.

 

[digitS']

Linn Bee, if I had an influence, it must have been very early in your TEG history. It is good to have others thinking about shallots.

I know next to nothing about any health benefit. I am not touting their nutritional value. They certainly don't contribute much to the overall diet.

It is just that they are something "different" that I am not sure if I'd even eaten 30 years ago. From different to the "I don't want to be without them" category - I think the change came very quickly for me.

I am not much of a shopper and there are the specialty food markets that I have almost no experience with. And, I'm not much of a cook. Jacque Pepin has that show "Fast Food My Way." I should really pay more attention to that show. I have to go into the library and I see that one of those videos is available - that isn't my preferred way to learn something but if I'm just going to maintain my "10 years behind everything" status, I'd better get it and pay a little attention.

Food isn't just food to me. I think there are mentally and physically healthier ways to live with a real interest and that interest too, should be cultivated.

Steve

 

[jomoncon]

Here in the south, New Orleans, I just can't grow decent garlic & shallots. Last year, I seriously tried to grow garlic. It looked beautiful, but just developed into one big bulbs. It tasted great, and I dehydrated it all to make garlic powder. But I wanted garlic that looked like garlic. My shallot endeavor was even worse. I got some scraggly green-onion looking shoots, and that was it.

Here, I plant in the fall, and it grows quite well, but the summer heat comes on too quickly, I even have warm days in the winter. I'm trying garlic & shallots again this year, much smaller plot. These I refrigerated for several weeks before planting. Wish me luck!!

 

[digitS']

Well, Good Luck, Jomoncon!!

Bulbing - that growth process of storing nutrients in the base of the leaves - is prompted by daylight hours. Long-day onions work here because the plants will wait, and wait, and wait before forming bulbs.

Short-day varieties will bulb too soon. So, the tiny plant will make a tiny bulb.

I am a little clueless as to what long-day onions would do in the South. They might just wait around until the heat fries them . . ?

Steve
who despite nearly hugging Canada (& i hug Canada as often as i have a chance) really thinks of himself as a "westerner." good thing there's no such thing as a "western onion" to confuse him.

 

[jomoncon]

My short-day onions worked out great last year. I grew Southern Belle Red and Texas Legend from Dixondale. My first time growing those also. They grew beautifully & were large & delicious.

Shallots & garlic are a completely different problem. I just think it doesn't get cold enough for them to grow properly. But now, "monobulb" garlic is becoming the rage! http://www.roastedginger.com/2013/05/special-garlic-bulbs-to-fall-in-love.html Maybe I'll grow some more!