Shallots

Weeding shallots at 4:45am, the only sounds I hear are birdsong. It's been a mild winter and spring, which means a good winter and spring for the birds. It seems to have been a particularly good year for robins, with the robins visiting the bird table countless times to feed. A robin has also been my constant companion, my shadow when digging. He's been cashing in on the worms and insects uncovered whilst planting. 

Anyways, I digress - back to the shallots. 

(Up close and personal) 

Shallots have more flavour than onions, and are harder to find in supermarkets, especially organic ones. They are one of the easier crops to grow. We buy bags of sets (small shallot bulbs) and plant them so that all but the tops are covered in soil. This can be done in autumn or spring. Autumn sowings make for an earlier harvest. 

Until midsummer, the plant is concentrating all its energy into vegetative growth. After that it wants to produce seed. This is when you will notice thicker stems sprouting from the plant. All you need to do with these is snap them off, otherwise the plant will divert its energies into seed production, rather than producing shallots. 

Shallots need a weed free environment. They do not compete for nutrients well with other plants, hence the early morning weeding. 

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