Looks like ginormous harvest of shalots! I harvested my onions and most garlics yesterday. Most red onions had bolted but usual yellow onions were the best I have ever grown. Intersting how years vary. Garlics were tiny but I didn't bother to water them after planting. It doesn't matter really, I have hundreds of them as I use them as vole repellent.
It has been a funny year - my overwintered onions (from sets) bolted but most of my spring sowing is ok. The red onions seem much more prone to bolting than the yellow. Did you grow the red onions from sets or seed? I gave up on sets because they were bolting so often. I have a couple of Italian varieties of red onion from seed - Rossa Lunga di Firenze and Tropea Rossa - none have bolted, even though one batch was in the ground really early in the year, so I am quite happy with those.
I grew from sets. Only salad onions I grew from seeds. Just popped in my polytunnel, tomatoed finally start to ripen! We have eaten loads of cucumber, both from greenhouse and outdoors. First time none of them is bitter!
Lovely crop. Any reason why you start from sets rather than seeds? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? I was thinking of trying seeds early next year (first time growing shallots) because I saw something about their being less chance of disease with seeds.
This is a rather disputed point so it depends who you ask. Traditional shallots (such as those I harvested here) are only grown from bulbs and you cannot get seed for these types; some types never flower so never produce seed, whilst with others a small proportion may bolt, depending on weather conditions, but the seed may be sterile, which is why they are only reproduced by bulb. They are not really sets; a set is an onion bulb that is only partially developed and offers a convenient short cut albeit with potential disadvantages such as increased risk of bolting. One onion set produces one mature bulb. The shallot bulb is fully mature when planted and then divides into multiple offsets. It gets confusing because there are now quite a few that are called shallots but are grown from seed. Some (myself included, along with many of the traditional French growers!) would argue that these are not proper shallots and are best considered as a sort of onion - the Dutch breeders of various varieties might disagree 😂
Nice video. If you planted a couple of the big bulbs, could they not give you enough smaller bulbs to use as a seed crop for the following year to make sure you get enough smaller ones to replant?
@@jonnyskitchengarden really well taste great if you get 2mins this guy got me on to them he talks about storage etc th-cam.com/video/IU6xIuyOWzY/w-d-xo.html
Given the dodgy conditions that is a great harvest!
It’s really odd - never had so many bolt, but never had such huge bulbs either! Not sure I can repeat it next year, but we shall see...
Good vid thanks
:)
Looks like ginormous harvest of shalots! I harvested my onions and most garlics yesterday. Most red onions had bolted but usual yellow onions were the best I have ever grown. Intersting how years vary. Garlics were tiny but I didn't bother to water them after planting. It doesn't matter really, I have hundreds of them as I use them as vole repellent.
It has been a funny year - my overwintered onions (from sets) bolted but most of my spring sowing is ok. The red onions seem much more prone to bolting than the yellow. Did you grow the red onions from sets or seed? I gave up on sets because they were bolting so often. I have a couple of Italian varieties of red onion from seed - Rossa Lunga di Firenze and Tropea Rossa - none have bolted, even though one batch was in the ground really early in the year, so I am quite happy with those.
I grew from sets. Only salad onions I grew from seeds. Just popped in my polytunnel, tomatoed finally start to ripen! We have eaten loads of cucumber, both from greenhouse and outdoors. First time none of them is bitter!
Congrats, that is a fantastic harvest and success story. I don’t think Seeds of Italy can import bulbs to the US, but I will keep an eye out.
If you can find a supply, the long or half-long varieties are great - so versatile in the kitchen.
Lovely crop. Any reason why you start from sets rather than seeds? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? I was thinking of trying seeds early next year (first time growing shallots) because I saw something about their being less chance of disease with seeds.
This is a rather disputed point so it depends who you ask. Traditional shallots (such as those I harvested here) are only grown from bulbs and you cannot get seed for these types; some types never flower so never produce seed, whilst with others a small proportion may bolt, depending on weather conditions, but the seed may be sterile, which is why they are only reproduced by bulb. They are not really sets; a set is an onion bulb that is only partially developed and offers a convenient short cut albeit with potential disadvantages such as increased risk of bolting. One onion set produces one mature bulb. The shallot bulb is fully mature when planted and then divides into multiple offsets. It gets confusing because there are now quite a few that are called shallots but are grown from seed. Some (myself included, along with many of the traditional French growers!) would argue that these are not proper shallots and are best considered as a sort of onion - the Dutch breeders of various varieties might disagree 😂
Can you still eat the green part
Not really. The green part is rather old and tired at this point; if left another week or two it would be mostly brown.
Nice video. If you planted a couple of the big bulbs, could they not give you enough smaller bulbs to use as a seed crop for the following year to make sure you get enough smaller ones to replant?
Yes, that would be a good way to do it.
Wondering what type shallot you used for the large shallots you havested?
They were Longue de Bretagne from Seeds of Italy
Best results I've had are the zebrunne banana shallots from seed they don't split like traditional shallots but are really tasty
If I have to buy onions I often get banana shallots - nice flavour and quick to prepare. How well do yours keep?
@@jonnyskitchengarden really well taste great if you get 2mins this guy got me on to them he talks about storage etc
th-cam.com/video/IU6xIuyOWzY/w-d-xo.html