Shallots

[Suffolk Dave]

I am new to the forum and have a question I'd like one of you seasoned experts to answer. I'm growing shallots at the moment in my small raised bed. They are growing fantastically having prepered the ground digging in good compost first of all. My question is, and I know it may be a daft one and fairly obvious but, I don't know when they should be pulled. I don't want them to run to seed, at what stage do you harvest them???

[DavidT]

When the foliage falls over and turns brown. Just remove any flowerheads as they form. Traditionally, shallots are planted on the shortest day ( December 21st ) and harvested on the longest day ( June 21st ).

[Suffolk Dave]

Thanks for the info David. One other question I have for you. What do I do with them when I've pulled them. I have a potato net sacking bag, do I dry them off in that?

[hiyatim]

hi dave, im not 100% but i asked the same question about red onions and the answer was to lay them out in the sun to allow them to dry.

another point i found out with red onions was to stop watering them a month before harvest so it may be worth finding out if this is the same for your shallots

[DavidT]

As has been said, Let them dry in the sun, once dried, clean them up a bit ( remove the loose outer skins but don`t peel them completely ) and store in hessian sacks. Hiyatim, I wouldn`t suddenly stop watering, wait until the top foliage falls over, you know then the plant doesn`t want any more. Also, about a month or two before lifting, give the onions/shallots a couple of feeds with a high potash feed, this will help them to ripen.

[Suffolk Dave]

Thanks everyone for the tips on lifting and storing my shallots. Great help!