Cultivating Shallots from Your Garden

Dan This Land of Ours, Vegetables

cultivating

Cathy Isom has a few great tips for you today about growing, and cultivating your own shallots . That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Cultivating Shallots from Your Garden

If you’ve grown onions, you’ll have no problem cultivating shallots. These gourmet onion-like veggies resemble small onions. Cook them, and they’ll infuse a delicate onion flavor into whatever dish you’re cooking.

While shallots and onions have a few notable differences, they both grow in mostly the same way. Like onions, shallots can be grown from seed or sets. Sets are more common since they’re easier and quicker.

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The most common type of shallot found at the grocery store is the red-skinned variety, but there are a few other kinds of note. Such as the French-Italian, Welsh shallot, Gray shallot, and Dutch shallots.

Shallots grow best in zones 3 through 10.  They need full sun to partial shade and do best in loose, well-drained fertile earth.  It’s also possible to plant transplants from a nursery or grown indoors. Start seedlings at least a month prior to transplantation in the spring. If you’re short on space, consider planting shallots in a container. A small 8-inch container can accommodate at most three sets.

Shallots are an ideal companion plant for a multitude of garden fruits and vegetables, including:  Cabbage, Beets, Chamomile, Mint, Sage, Thyme, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Celergy, Carrots, Strawberries, Cucumber and Dill. Don’t plant shallots next to Broad beans, bush beans, pole beans, parsley, asparagus, and Gladiolus.

I’m Cathy Isom…