Growing And Varieties Of Shallots

Onions occupy, perhaps, the central place in cooking. You can love or not love any other vegetable, and therefore eat every day or only occasionally.

Almost no classic recipe for the most varied cuisines of the world can do without onions: from soups to pies! I want to tell you about my favorite culture from the galaxy of numerous bows - the aristocrat shallot.

And it is not for nothing that he is considered an aristocrat - the shallots are tender, juicy, aromatic and tasty. It is especially appreciated by gourmets: it is believed that shallots do not drown out the delicate taste of other products.

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Shallots are very similar to onions, but smaller. But they are perfectly stored! And what is important, they form many shoots - up to 30 bulbs and more are formed in one nest. Shallot leaves are thinner than that of onions, they are bright green, up to 20-40 cm long, tender and fragrant, and how good they are in salads! The main thing is not to be rude for a long time. Another distinctive feature of shallots is its early ripeness: after planting, it grows quickly, after 25-30 days the greens can be cut off, and the bulb itself ripens in 70-80 days (20-30 days earlier than onions).

The yield of shallots is high. Greens can be harvested up to 5 kg / m² and bulbs up to 3 kg / m². In addition, its bulbs are cold-resistant. They can freeze, and after gradual thawing, germinate as if nothing had happened.

An important quality of shallots is the ability to store well: it does not dry out, does not germinate at room temperature, it lies without problems until the new harvest. This onion has a deep, but short dormancy period, therefore it is very convenient for winter and early spring forcing. And if the shallots are planted in the ground in the fall, in the spring its greens will be ready for use 10-15 days earlier than the green onions. If you plant shallots in July-August, a wonderful harvest of greens ripens in the fall (with onions such a number is unlikely to work).

In the conditions of our climate, in the spring I plant shallots as early as possible: if only the earth warms up a little. When the soil is sufficiently moist and cold (8-10 ° C), intensive root growth occurs, which outstrips the growth of leaves. Late planting is undesirable: the soil becomes dry and warm, as a result of which the growth of leaves will outpace the growth of roots, that is, the plants will begin to suffer from a lack of water and nutrients. In this case, the bulbs become smaller, do not ripen well (a lot of "thick-necked" is obtained, the likelihood of damage by onion fly larvae increases). Shallot plants form a large rosette of green leaves, so they need good lighting.

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The distance between rows should be 30-50 cm, between plants in a row 10-20 cm (the smaller the planting material, the higher the planting density). You can grow shallots in a 20x20 cm or 30x30 cm pattern. For larger shallots, cut into several pieces. So from one large onion, cutting off the "tail" and dividing it into parts, you can get up to 10 planting units, from which three to four-nested large families up to 150-170 grams will grow.

I plant the bulbs to a depth of 5-6 cm, so that there is a layer of soil 2-3 cm above them. Too shallow planting can lead to bulbs bulging out of the ground (especially on heavy soils). If the planting material is deepened, the new bulbs will not ripen well and begin to shrink. How to care for shallots? It is imperative to loosen the soil around the plants, avoiding crust formation. Of course, water and feed in the first half of the growing season. Top dressing in July is ineffective (nitrogen - harmful).

In the first ten days of July, you can carry out rationing of the bulbs in the nest. To do this, you need to carefully shake off the soil from the plants and remove entirely (along with the onion) 2-3 branches, leaving 2-3 shoots (the bulbs will become larger).

I remove the shallots after the leaves have lodged. You should not postpone the harvesting time, the yield will not increase from this, and the keeping quality of the bulbs will decrease. The leaves usually dry well and can be braided or not trimmed with scissors, but simply removed with your fingers and folded into a trellised box. Shallots are best stored at 0 ° C or + 1 ° C and 60-70% relative humidity. If you have to keep the shallots warm, it is better to powder it with ash or chalk.

Having been cultivating shallots for many years, I was able to collect only six varieties of this interesting onion. I want to tell the readers a little about them.

An interesting and very productive variety turned out to be the Sorokozubka - its bulbs are elongated up to 10-12 cm, it forms a large nest of 5-7 bulbs, the color of soft scales is light purple, the outer ones are brown-purple. A variety with high winter hardiness and long shelf life.

White Queen is a large-fruited white variety with a large number of bulbs in the nest, rounded-elongated bulbs with golden-white scales and bright white sweet pulp, with medicinal properties.

Variety Kubansky - bulbs are rather large, rounded-elongated, brown-purple in color, multi-nested.

Variety Starorusskiy is a red-scaled handsome man with large multi-bud bulbs of a round-elongated shape, has juicy scales with a slightly purple color.

Kuban variety Kvochka - large bulbs up to 150 grams or more, round-flat in shape with brown scales, juicy, white-purple in color. Forms a rather large nest of up to 15 bulbs, resembling a hen with chickens. …

Old Believers - bulbs up to 70 grams with a large number of nests, round-elongated bulbs, yellow-brown in color with white juicy pulp.

There is also a very interesting winter onion variety with a sweet taste in my collection of onions - Ellan. I plant it with a sevka at the same time as winter garlic and shallots. The bulbs of this variety, with normal cultivation technology, gain weight over 300 grams. Onions are sweet, without a strong smell, they can be eaten without bread, like radishes. So we have been eating it for the fifth year every day, and the flu bypasses us.

Also read:

What are shallots