Shallots
These red skinned shallots will each split, multiply and grow into lots more shallots.
Planting Shallots - 27 March 2010
I dug the soil over lightly, then made a shallow trench.
I pushed the shallots into the soil so that just the tips were showing - then firmed the soil around them.
There's not much more to do until they start to grow. I'll cover them with agricultural fleece to keep the cats and birds off. There's heavy rain forecast for the following week, so I won't need to water anything.
17 April 2010 - the shallots are showing some good growth - I've removed the fleece now.
24 April 2010 - I've been watering all of the vegetables daily - the shallots are now about a foot tall.
08 May 2010 - the plants have really put on a lot of growth, except one that just shrivelled up and died completely.
The individual stems are now becoming conspicuous - these will each form their own separate bulb.
29 May 2010 - they're still growing well, but some of them have begun to bolt - that is, they're trying to flower.
I don't really want to let them do this, or they'll divert their energies into producing seeds, rather than more bulbs. So I've cut off the flower stems.
However, it may be that the bulbs are already too far gone when this happens, as they do develop a very thick fleshy neck - which I think probably means there will be no bulb.
No matter - the cut flower stems are my first harvest from all of the vegetable patch this year (see side column for more details)
I'll update this page as and when there's more progress to report...
