Banana Shallots

[Johnboy]

Hi Strawberry Tart,
I guess that my eyesight is, like the rest of me, deteriorating. I had to get a magnifying glass to discern that they are Hazel Nuts!
I must say that I had a good laugh at myself however
the rest was all true it is a very nice onion.
I notice in this years Moles catalogue that there is an F1 Hybrid Onion called Iceni which has a blush in the skin and wonder if Roscoff is one of the parents.
You are far better off with Roscoff because you can keep the strain going with home produced seeds.
In order to keep them as pure as possible I should employ the muslin bag method as soon as the Onion is about to bloom. It would be a great pity to fall foul of an adventitious pollination from a Bee with a penchant for Onion pollen.
As for the Hazel Nuts I have two Filbert trees and they both give enormous nuts but the strange thing is they are different nuts and for the life of me I do not know which is the true one.
One is quite round and has a normal sheath and the others are slender and long with a sheath that is curled and completely covers the nut. Any ideas?
I have got literally scores of normal Hazels around the plot and the Squirrels ignore those and make a bee line for the big ones. Up until they are right for picking any Squirrel I find gets dispatched but when I have picked them, as I now have,
I leave those that I cannot reach for nature.
JB.

[Colin_M]

I'm also on the lookout for some top quality virus free hative d'nort

Morning Strawberry, can you explain what "hative d'nort" are? I couldn't find anything when I searched - are they a variety of shallot?


Colin

ps - I too find Jeremor pretty reliable. I was lucky enough to manage to get some Bananas growing this year. Unlike "standard" shallots, I like the elongated varieties for ordinary cooking as you get the shallot flavour, but less of the hassle peeling them than the ordinary pickling varieties.

[strawberry tart]

Hi Colin, well I spelt it wrong for starters, Hative de Noirt a French pear shaped variety grown by exhibitors and has been around for donkeys years. Having said that there is very little on the web i found a bit by Medwyn;- http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/medwyn-williams ... ow-70.html
and I have bought them from a guy who advertises every year in the Garden News. I think he's in Cambridge but I cant find the details...S.T.

[Colin_M]

Thanks ST.

Out of interest, how big do these get - if they're small & fiddly, I'd probably give them a miss.

oh, and I'm usually quite capable of making my harvest go pear-shaped without having to resort to exotic French varieties but willing to give them a try!

Colin

[strawberry tart]

Grown well hative de noirt get to an inch and half to two inches in diameter,exhibitors grow them specifically for the "over 1 1/4 inch "class. Another similar type is Aristocrat.(available from Medwyns but theyre not cheap).The idea is to get some good stock and gradually build up your own supply by keeping some back each year for replanting. Like a lot of things that are propagated vegetatively by the home gardener they can gradually over the years deteriorate due to virus infection, this is what happened to mine. I'm on the lookout for a good clean fresh stock. This along with the keeping difficulties of some shallots is the reason for the recent trend towards "shallots" from seed, but Ive yet to find a good one that suits me for showing. S.T.

[Piglet]

Strawberrytart, I did very well with my banana shallots and whilst a couple have gone soft, just like the odd maincrop onion has they are looking goodas can be seen in the pictures in the link below.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/2007/0 ... llots.html

My problem will be the same as Johnboys though, they will all be eaten soon.

[STEVE PARTRIDGE]

Hi Shallotman and thanks once again for the Banana Shallot seed which did very well for me. I have noticed as well with mine that they are shooting from the center whilst trying to dry them for storage it is probably due to the weather in some way, regards Steve.

[Gledhow]

Hello Strawberry Tart,
I was really interested in your post about the Roscoff Onions. I recently bought a string of them at Ludlow market they are absolutely superb.
Is it possible for me to pot them up and possibly get seed from them. I have an allotment but no greenhouse but a friend of mine has one. Any help appreciated.
Gledhow

[Shallot Man]

Re onion seed from bulbs. I normally keep three or four of the best shaped ones back, store normally, next year plant out early spring, they should run straight to seed, I stake each one, when seed head has formed place brown paper bag over the head and secure with string, leave to end of summer, cut the stem fairly low down, hang in shed to really dry out. In the autumn gently rub the seed between your hands, blowing gently to remove husk. Then store as you would other seed. You now have your seed for the following season, best of luck, shallotman

[Gledhow]

Hi Shallot Man,
Thanks for the valuable information. I look forward to attempting to grow onions from seed. Will post my progress.Best Wishes.Gledhow

[strawberry tart]

hi Gledhow, I think I'll probably get told off for hijacking this thread but I potted mine up into 5 litre pots (ordinary john innes no 3 would be fine I actually used some nice soil out of one of my beds). I then grew them on in a greenhouse, mainly to try to keep them isolated to prevent any stray cross polination, but also to help them ripen up earlier than they would outside.When the heads have set and are begining to dry I tied a paper bag over the heads to collect any early seed. finally when I judge the seeds to be completely ready (when the actual stem had gone from green to a papery brown colour) I cut the heads off put them (still in the bags) on the windowsil to dry for another few days.Give them a good old shake and most of the seed comes free on its own but there still remains a fair bit in the chaff that you can sort through.Then store in a paper bag in a cool dry place.I started sowing into modules from about the end of January but this was also in a greenhouse.Best of luck S.T.
p.s. well Ive just checked and looks like shallotman got there first with much of this but I'll post anyway.

[Gledhow]

Hi Strawberry Tart,
Many thanks for the growing info. The onions appear to be in good condition but not sure how old they are. I only have a dozen left so will pot and plant and wait for results. Hope I have some success as the taste of the Roscoff is superb.
Have grown Stuggart and Sturon with good results.
Best Wishes Gledhow

[Piglet]

I am just sorting my roscoff seed now. Its all in a steamer pan with holes big enough for the seed to fall through but not too much chaff, what does come through can easily be blown off. A dozen onions has given me thousands of seeds.

[Gledhow]

Hello Piglet,
Glad you have had good results from your Roscoff onions. IWhen I checked the string only about 4 decent onions to pot the rest are too soft so will try anyway.
Best Wishes Gledhow