Shallot harvest 2010!

Well, the tops have been yellowed and fallen over for over a week now and with the 90+ degree temps we've been having I decided it was time to harvest my shallots. These were planted in October 2010. Most of the sets yielded 6-8 shallots. Here they are laying out on my potting bench to dry out a little before taking them to the garage for drying further.


Below is a closeup of one of the clumps. This is a smaller one and the only clump that stayed intact when I dug them up. I am VERY pleased to say the least!!


Patti

Gorgeous!

wow, adding that to my things I want to grow in the future list!! I love to cook with shallots but hate to pay the price!

Wonderful harvest!

We love shallots and I planted some earlier this spring. I can tell that they've multiplied a lot but they still have green tops so I didn't think it was time to harvest them yet.

Can't wait to see them now that I see yours.
Gloria

Wow! Just beautiful!

How many squares did it take to get that Patti? Nice harvest!

Did you find that they didn't want to come up? I have pulled one of mine for a dish a while back but the roots were either tangled in there neighbors OR thy were woven into the fabric below (not sure which) did you have a problem like that?

Lavender Debs wrote:How many squares did it take to get that Patti? Nice harvest!

Did you find that they didn't want to come up? I have pulled one of mine for a dish a while back but the roots were either tangled in there neighbors OR thy were woven into the fabric below (not sure which) did you have a problem like that?

I planted 20 bulbs on one side of 8 squares (in a 2 x 8 foot box). That's means 2 per square and four of the squares had three (which I staggered slightly). At the time I planted them, it seemed like they had plenty of room, but it's I didn't realize how much those clusters/clumps spread! They multiply and divide, so they really needed more room. I actually planted tomatoes in the same square since this was a row on the North side of the box. The tomatoes look fine, but they are not as big as some others that had their own dedicated square. Here they are last May:



I was anxious to get the shallots out so my tomatoes could have more room. Everything I've read about shallots say to dig when the tops fall over and start turning yellow, the tops do not have to be dead. I think their harvest time was hastened since I planted them last Fall and our temps have been so unusually hot. Besides the tops falling over the other things to check if they are ready to harvest: Size, papery looking skins at ground level and color. They came out of the soil very easy! I just lifted them slighted with a spade and they came out almost clean (another plus of Mel's Mix!). I was careful not disturb the tomatoes any more than necessary. I added some fresh mix afterwards.

I've tried growing shallots before, but this is the first time they've been successful. I counted 92 shallots, but some of them are double and triple-cloved. I am definitely sold on Fall planting them...but this Fall they'll get their own squares.

When these have had their three weeks drying time in the garage, I'll report back with another picture.

Patti

Lovely. I've never had much luck with shallots, but might try them again this fall.

I just LOVE shallots, and hardly ever have used them in my cooking because of the cost. Now that I see your harvest, I KNOW I need to plant them.... Do you plant from seed or from sets? and when is the best time to plant? I'm in zone 5b, so it shouldn't be too far different from your 6a. Do you still water an inch a week through the winter?

BTW Donna of video fame (I have said and read that she is my SFG hero) included shallots on one of her videos. She says that she always has shallots (than again, she is in Florida) because every time she pulls up a plant she replants the smallest bulb in the cluster right back into the garden.

Deborah... I'm just saying

Wyldflower wrote:I just LOVE shallots, and hardly ever have used them in my cooking because of the cost. Now that I see your harvest, I KNOW I need to plant them.... Do you plant from seed or from sets? and when is the best time to plant? I'm in zone 5b, so it shouldn't be too far different from your 6a. Do you still water an inch a week through the winter?

I had to laugh when you asked about watering through the winter! I planted sets (from http://www.territorialseed.com ) mid-October and the tops sprouted to about 6" by mid-December. Then from December 19, 2009 through the end of February this year they were under snow -- at least 1 to 2 feet of it! So no, I did not need to water. In March they took right off (the tops stayed green under all the snow). I watered about once a week, if that in March, more as they got larger and larger. I think you probably get more snow in Colorado than than we do here in WV, so you won't have to worry about watering them either!

They are the easiest things to plant, just pop them upright into the soil. Only one important thing to remember: Keep the tops slightly above ground (don't bury them), otherwise they'll rot.

Patti

Where did you get your sets?

Megan wrote:Where did you get your sets?

http://www.territorialseed.com/prod_detail_list/257

The one's I grew were the French shallots. They've gone up in price from last year I noticed. Maybe I should look for another source, or save 2 dozen of this years to plant again! Considering how much they cost in the stores and how much I like to use them, it's worth it to me.

Patti

pattipan wrote:......I think you probably get more snow in Colorado than than we do here in WV, so you won't have to worry about watering

That's a misconception that a lot of people have.... I'm in Colorado Springs, and we don't get that much snow. Most of the snow falls in the mountains before it gets to the Front Range where I am. My area is semi-arid.
I'll try to get a local opinion on the water.

I know this is an old thread, but since it's what made me buy Shallots this year, well, here we are again. I bought the shallot bulbs to plant, but they came with terrible instructions. So, some of them have 2 bulbs kindof stuck together. Do I separate those? These are 8/square right?

I keep reading different things on planting in spring -vs- fall. I'm in zone 4b. should I hang on to these and plant in fall or go ahead and do them now? Thank YOU!!!

For what it is worth, I am trying shallots for the first time this year too. I am breaking them apart just like you do garlic and planting them separately. My gardening guru, Lois Hole, just grouped them in her books under onions, and says to treat them the same way. She recommends planting them as soon as the ground is thawed so I am planting mine this weekend. I have tried holding on to onion sets until fall to plant them then, but have never had good success with that. They don't usually keep until fall. Don't know if Shallots would be any different. A lot of my onions that I planted last fall just turned all mushy. About half of them are fine though. Go figure. So I am replanting some onions and doing the shallots as well.

Gwynn

PeggyC wrote:I know this is an old thread, but since it's what made me buy Shallots this year, well, here we are again. I bought the shallot bulbs to plant, but they came with terrible instructions. So, some of them have 2 bulbs kindof stuck together. Do I separate those? These are 8/square right?

I keep reading different things on planting in spring -vs- fall. I'm in zone 4b. should I hang on to these and plant in fall or go ahead and do them now? Thank YOU!!!

You can plant them now or in the fall. Fall is the ideal time because you get to harvest them sooner and you'll get larger shallots. Separate the bulbs when you plant them. Unlike onions, shallots separate into multiple bulbs as the grow. No more than 4, maybe 5 per square. For every bulb you plant you'll get 4 to 6 new ones! One other thing to keep in mind is to plant them root down with a bit of the top sticking up. Burying the whole bulb can cause rotting. Mel's Mix is so nice and loose, I just push them down into the soil -- so easy!

Some folks plant their shallots here and there in the SFGs and when they pull one up they plant a new one in it's place. They won't be as large, but you'll get a continuous harvest that way. I planted a lot as you can see from my picture in this thread last year and I had enough to plant some last fall and still probably have enough to use until this year's harvest!

pattipan

Thanks Pattipan! Those look fantastic. I am looking forward to trying these. When you store them, do you store them just like onions?

Gwynn

Pattipan, seems Territorial sells one pound of French shallots for $20; Nichols Garden Nursery offers 1.5 pounds for about the same price (https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/product-info.php?pid1262.html) I'd suggest checking around, especially in June/July at farmers' markets, you might even find a better price. Anyone with access to the farmers' market in Healdsburg (Sonoma Valley) can really score wonderful organic starts, that's where our big sunchokes came from, some garlic varieties, etc. PapaVino brings home wine, I bring home garden stuff!

How do you store your shallots so that they keep over the long term?

clb58 wrote:How do you store your shallots so that they keep over the long term?

I laid my shallots out in my hubby's garage/workshop on one of those utility shelves with (the heavy duty kind with wire-frame shelves). I let them "cure" for almost 4 weeks, and once or twice a week I would move them around to make sure they all received good air circulation. When the tops were nice and dry and the outer skins papery, I used small clippers to cut off the tops. I stored them in those plastic mesh bags (I had saved several bags from lemons, onions, etc.). I've kept the shallots in a cool dark cabinet (don't have a cellar). A few did rot, but no more than 6 or so out of all those you see in my photo. Right now there are a few that are trying to sprout -- seems like they know it's spring!

At first I thought that the $20 for these shallots sets was pricey, but now I can grow them from my own sets, so this year and for the future (as long as I grow them healthy) they are free! I just need to always remember to keep some back for planting.

pattipan

Turned out to be a pretty good investment.

Gwynn

So I planted some shallots in my first square foot garden this year. I have nice green tops right now, and I see that I should wait until the tops turn yellow and wilt before harvesting, but how long (approximately) will that take if I planted in the spring?

moswell wrote:So I planted some shallots in my first square foot garden this year. I have nice green tops right now, and I see that I should wait until the tops turn yellow and wilt before harvesting, but how long (approximately) will that take if I planted in the spring?

Like onions (shallots are in the same family), you can harvest them when their tops begin to fall over. That's usually when the weather start to get hotter. Here in WV that's late June, early July. The main advantage of planting them in the fall is you get bigger shallots, but the harvest time is the same.

If I can find that paper that came with my shallot order last year and discover anything different I'll let you know.

pattipan

pattipan wrote:

moswell wrote:So I planted some shallots in my first square foot garden this year. I have nice green tops right now, and I see that I should wait until the tops turn yellow and wilt before harvesting, but how long (approximately) will that take if I planted in the spring?

Like onions (shallots are in the same family), you can harvest them when their tops begin to fall over. That's usually when the weather start to get hotter. Here in WV that's late June, early July. The main advantage of planting them in the fall is you get bigger shallots, but the harvest time is the same.

If I can find that paper that came with my shallot order last year and discover anything different I'll let you know.

pattipan

+1 late June early July. Last year after curing the shallots, I braided the dried greens and hung them in the cellar stairway, just a few of them dried up and I had 20 shallots to plant this spring. I am going to try the fall planting this year too. I was thinking of just buying a few of the French shallots in the grocery and giving them a go as I have not been able to locate them in the seed dept. at the garden stores.

I am trying leeks this year too