Veg4Show

Well i have lifted the remaining of my shallots and have had a count up, and have over 160 to choose from. This sounds a lot but you would be surprised how many you need just to make a really decent set up. Not all of these shallots will make the grade and i suppose i have at least 90 that are perfect size and shape, anything under 4-5 inches around i wont really consider.

I also have a fair amount of pickling shallots, could have done with some more but my shallots really didnt split much this year with only 3-4 bulbs on each cluster.

Why do i keep the foliage and roots on my shallots as they dry?. Well i have seen this technique used by Graeme Watson, a master at growing shallots and if it works for him it must work for me. I do find keeping the foliage on helps the bulbs to swell out evenly, even when drying a slight imperfection can grow out as the goodness from the foliage goes into the bulb. I leave the roots on simply as i find they come off much cleaner when fully dried avoiding any marks.

The only concern i have about the shallots this year (so far) is some have roots that have decided to grow upwards while they were growing in the bed into the skins. Thankfully this has only happened to a few of them.