Kitchen Garden Forum

Harvested my shallots yesterday. I planted 16 earlier in the year, they all grew, & I dug up a grand total of 112 yesterday. An average of 7 per set planted.

I was pretty pleased with that result. Think I'm going to pickle the majority.

Do you know, piglet, we have just come back from harvesting the shallots on the allotment (lovely afternoon weatherwise, by the way) and they have really grown like mad. Most of them had about 6 or 7 shallots from the one set but one had 9 at quite decent sizes, too. Half were Yellow Moon and the other a red variety whose name I cannot now remember.

I did feed them with special onion fertiliser twice. Perhaps that's what has done it.

Well done, Monika. I had a few enormous one (for shallots!), mostly average sized, and several tiny ones.

I've absolutely no idea what variety they are. My Mum & Dad gave them to me & said I could cook with them or plant them. I didn't think to ask the name of them.

I gave them a couple of doses of general liquid feed, but nothing special to the onion family. I didn't know there was such a product. Maybe next year...

You should be pretty pleased with that result, Piglet6.

Shallots are not a crop I've ever grown, tending to stick to onions. I'd be intrigued to know when people tend to use/prefer shallots rather than onions and what is the reason for growing both.

We pickle Shallots.

Well done Piglet! Brilliant result! Shallots are certainly value for money. We have also had an excellent crop, having harvested them last weekend. The biggest cluster had 10 shallots and all were a good size....I don't think we fed them with any onion-type fertilizer but I will check with my husband...onions and shallots are "his baby", the leeks are mine.

Primrose...we like shallots to cook with as they have a very nice flavour but I can't be more specific, I'm afraid! The larger ones go in casseroles, soups,etc, but the majority of them are pickled as they are definitely much nicer than the variety of onion grown for pickling.
I think it's Golden Gourmet that we grow.
Cheers.

Primrose wrote:I'd be intrigued to know when people tend to use/prefer shallots rather than onions

Hi Primrose, I like the flavour of shallots. I also really like the way they roast, with alongside a roast meat joint, or for addition into a casserole, Coq au Vin, Paella etc.

I'm afraid to confess to not having very discerning taste buds and I grow lots of shallots because I prefer their small size rather than because of a different taste. We do grow onions, too, but it's rare that I cook a big enough meal to use a large onion!

Hi Piglet,

That sounds like a great return for your time .

Forgive my ignorance but I have never grown or really eaten shallots although I have been thinking about it this year - do they grow like garlic, like cloves surrounding the original plant?

They grow just like garlic, EG, but the individual bulbs spread out, starlike, and are therefore easily separated. Some varieties can be planted in late autumn, like garlic, others in spring. And they keep well.

The red variety whose name I could not remember earlier were 'Virgamor'. This year they were not as vigorous as 'Yellow Moon'.

You can also grow them from seed. They come ready a little later. Last year we thought at first they didn't pickle very well but in the end decided they just took longer because they were very solid, this also meant the excess kept really well for cooking well after Christmas.

So a question to all you shallot growers. If you could only grow one - shallots or onions, which would you grow?
I was very disappointed with my red onions this year in terms of their size and wonder whether shallots would be a better crop to grow in terms of sweetness and flavour.

Primrose. Been using my own shallot sets for many years now. Started with "JERMOR" &"LONGOR" they have sort of amalgamated over the years. I can recommend these two. But should you wish to try some of my stock, please send private Message. shallotman

Yes, Longor have done very well for us this year too.