Great Tips for Successfully Growing Shallots
Growing shallots is a great option in that this vegetable has a flavor that is a cross between an onion and garlic. Unfortunately, many people will visit the local grocery store and walk right past shallots because they have no clue what they are or the flavor they offer. However, shallots look much as a standard clove of garlic except the outer skin is brown. The flavor is much lighter than regular garlic and onion, yet strong enough to enhance foods.
If you have wanted to add something new to your garden then you might think about growing shallots. You will find that when cooked with or used to make gravies and sauces, the flavor is amazing. Shallots are actually a member of the onion family but when growing, they do not need as much space as a traditional onion and they grow very quickly.
For growing shallots, it is important to have loose soil and when watering, it would need to drain easily. For the healthiest shallots, we suggest you consider using organic matter in the form of fertilizer. This vegetable also needs to receive plenty of sunlight. The best time to plant is in the early portion of spring and when put the bulbs in the ground, set them about two inches into the soil but make sure the tip sticks out. For spacing, you want the bulbs to be about eight to ten inches apart.
As mentioned, when growing shallots you need to make sure they are provided with appropriate water. Once the bulbs are planted, the soil would need to be soaked but as they grow, instead of watering every week or so, you would lessen water frequency. A great tip for ripening the bulbs is that during the mid-part of spring, expose them, followed by letting the bulbs finish growing on top of the soil. If you go this route, make sure you place mulch around so moisture would be retained.
The other part of growing shallots is harvesting them. The bulbs will be ready to pull from the ground during the summer and fall bulbs will be ready during early winter months. Simply pull the bulbs from the ground and prepare to store them. After growing shallows, pulling them out is easy.
Simply pull the bubs from the soil, shake off excess dirt, and then set the bulbs in a place where they can be exposed to sunlight for a few days to dry out. Now, once you pull the shallots from the ground if you find that any of them are rotted or soft, toss them in the compost pile, or throw them away. Finally, store shallots inside a mesh bag, keeping them in a dry, cool place until needed for cooking.
As you can see, the process of growing shallots takes very little time and effort but in return, you end up with a vegetable with both onion and garlic flavors that can enhance virtually any dish.