"Spider" wrote

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Spider" wrote ...

Bob Hobden wrote:
Planted our Shallots today, ended up with 6 rows, that's 120 feet of
them. Red Sun, Jermor, Devred, French Longue and French Grisse which is
supposed to be the French Chefs favourite, a speciality of SW France.
The Grisse have been growing in modules since Christmas, the French
normally plant them in the autumn I'm told, and I also potted up some
of
my own Jermor that had begun to sprout early.
Goodness knows why I bought the Red Sun, probably for pickling but
Jermors pickle brilliantly anyway.



Thank goodness it's only the shallots you've over done ... I thought
for one nasty moment that you might have done yourself an injury! I'm
sure you'll enjoy growing and eating the shallots in due course. Hope
they do well for you.


They usually do well, especially the Jermor which we normally use for
cooking and pickling. The reason we have so many is that on top of those
we intended to plant a friend bought us some from France, a bag of the
long ones and another of the special small grey ones which seem most
unusual with very thick skins. Should be interesting to see how they do.
Then another friend gave us some Devred to try.

Yes, I've heard that shallots often do well, even when onions are having a
poor year. I may try some myself next year. I'm the only real lover of
onions in our house, so there's not much point in my growing full-sized
onions. Shallots sound just the job. In your experience, is there one
that would be mild but flavoursome enough to use in place of spring onions?
More for use with sandwiches than salads.

Sounds like you need Jermor if you can get some at a reasonable cost. All
shallots have a milder sweeter taste than Onions, not as raw, which is why
chefs like them. We also prefer pickled shallots to pickled onions and they
do tend to store longer too.
Last year our onions were a disaster but our garlic and shallots did very
well and they were all in the same bed due to our 4 year rotation.
Certainly not too late to plant for this year, try a few, I plant 9 inches
apart both ways as we have White Rot in the soil and I don't want the roots
touching and causing cross infection. Also makes hoeing easier.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK