Friday 24 July 2009

that's shallot?

Shallots were unsuccessful for us in 2007. They had been unsuccessful too many times in the past. It was make or break year in 2008 and the shallots knew it. This was their last chance.
And they grew like never before to produce our best ever crop!
Shallots store better than onions and so are useful to use in the place of onions as we head towards spring - as well as having unique qualities of their own that make them worth planting in their own right.

So, this use of applied plant psychology was employed again this year. The shallots were received in the New Year and we planted them out as soon as the ground had thawed. But first there was a stern 'talking to' along the lines of the successful lecture last year. Usual stuff: can you be as good as last years team?; you're really important to me; don't let me down; I know you can do it; the consequences of failure are unthinkable.

And it seems to have worked again. We have had a good crop!

The shallots have now been lifted and placed in loose onion bags and hung in the greenhouse to really dry out over the summer. They will store well into the New Year.

Looking forward to February already!

2 comments:

Melissa said...

I planted shallots for the first time this year- they did great! i usually have problems with things the second year (maybe over confidence?)

Lisa said...

Wow, how nice to have a good harvest of shallots!

I've found shallots to be rather fussy, too, so I shall try the stern approach when I plant them again this fall. They did fine this year, actually, but just weren't terribly productive. But maybe I harvested them too early.

Cheers,
Lisa