All the alliums (except the leeks obviously) have now been pulled and are drying in the greenhouse or on slabs outside.
Some things have done better than others.
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| Lots of shallots! I think I should just grow these! |
The shallots did really well this year and we've a good amount to use in the coming months and enough to save to plant again next year. I roasted some with a roast the other day and I'd forgotten how good they taste, slightly caramelised on the outside and meltingly gooey in the middle - delicious!
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| All the onions, a bit small but they should keep us in onions for a while |
My onions weren't so good. The rust from my chives did spread but it didn't do too much damage, but I'm not sure how well they would have done with out it.
The red onions didn't amount to much. A lot of them tried to bolt and didn't really bulb up much and some have gone soft already, I'm ready to give up on red onions and just plant more shallots next year.
The brown onions were slightly better, none of them are going to win any awards for biggest veg but most reached a usable size and look healthy so should keep well.
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| Garlic drying in the greenhouse |
The garlic was a big success. I managed to harvest thirty two good sized bulbs with a handful of smaller ones that we'll use straight away. I was worried that I'd planted them too close together (my usual trick) but I fed them quite often and this has paid off.
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| Thirty two good sized garlic bulbs with a handful of smaller ones |
I'll save the biggest bulbs to plant again next season, leaving us a good amount to use. I'm not sure it's a years supply but it won't be far off.
How has everyone else's alliums done this year?
How are you going to be storing them?
This is the first year i have attempted onions on a large scale and i have put in a plot of about garlic. Ours won't be due for a few months yet as we plant in March here.I am impressed with the amount you have grown, I hope to get to that point eventually.
ReplyDeleteI think that we'd need to grow double to be self sufficient in them but that's not something I'm worrying about that the moment. I'll just try to increase the amount year on year. The other trouble is then keeping them as best I can without them spoiling over winter.
DeleteThe only onions I have grown this year is a container of white ones and a container of red, the white ones look good nice sizes, but the red like you seem yo want to bolt, I dint have any brown planted up, I didnt garlic done this year either.
ReplyDeleteNext year will be better. your onions and garlic look good, did you grow onions from seed or sets, I am going to have a go at seed for next year as well as sets to comapre the two.
I grew these from sets but like you I'd like to try from seed again. I did a few years ago and they seemed to do just as well. The sets are so cheap though that I wonder if it's worth it!
DeleteYou are well in front of me here!
ReplyDeleteMy shallots are a good few weeks off and my onions even further. I have pulled the garlic though which was planted on bonfire night, and it is a good crop.
I always string the garlic and the shallots and keep the onions in string bags apart fro a couple of strings I do for the kitchen for easy access through the winter.
Small onions and shallots I keep in a wire egg basket for early use.
I keep some garlic and shallots for next year, buying new for a "bug break" every three years. I grow my onions from seed.
I think my onions could have done with more growing but they were dieing off and I'm terrible at not pulling them soon enough, then they rot or go mouldy. I'd rather be early with them than late! I hadn't thought about stringing the shallots, I think that's what I'll do!
DeleteIf I had a greenhouse, would grow my onions from seed. The last 2 years have grown from onion sets bought from Wilkos. I planted them in divided trays in ordinary compost to get them off growing, then when I got the raised bed filled up, planted them in there probably a bit too close together. The only feed they had was pelleted chicken manure in the compost. they are fairly small, have been thinning them out a little, week by week and roasting them (yummy) and dug them out Tuesday, laid them on some mesh off of the ground to dry out but it started to rain, so they are in the brick store for now, still on the mesh. The garlic was planted late too, this year. I have quite small one and the last row I've left for a few more weeks to see if they bulb-up a bit. The leeks are not so good, no sign of any rust, just not doing so well, will feed them with my home-made nettle and seaweed mix and see if that helps boost them. Never grown shallots, maybe because I'm not accustomed to cooking with them and used to find them fairly expensive to buy, so maybe will try next year.
ReplyDeletemine were from good old wilkos as well, so cheap! I'd like to try the seeds if just to try some other varieties and see how they do. Maybe there's a red onion that doesn't bolt out there somewhere!
DeleteI thought my garlic was going to be a failure as they were planted to close (or I thought they were), but I did give them lots of chicken manure pellets so that helped.
We never buy shallots becasue they are too expensive but they are great to cook with when we've got them, try them next year you won't regret it.
My red onions are also very disappointing. I will plant my winter (Japanese) onions in September. If you want mammoth onions. Robinsons (Chelsea Gold Medalists) sell giant onion seeds and giant vegetable plants online, mail order or you can visit them . I use to visit them in Forton near Lancaster when I lived in England to buy my veg plants and seeds. Their cabbages are enormous. I gave one of my cabbages to a fellow allotment grower and he won first prize at an allotment society.
ReplyDeleteI used to grow Japanese onions but I didn't find they did that much better than the others.
DeleteWith mammoth veg we have Malvern show every year and some stuff has to be brought in on a forklift! One day I'd like to enter!
I didn't plant any this year, I need to plant seed and see if they will grow in the fall as they tend to want to bolt here.
ReplyDeleteI think it's all to do with water. First sign of a dry spell they go to seed.
DeleteMy onions were very disappointing this year! The rest of the garden is doing great though, we have an abundance of tomato's, cucumbers, zuchinni, green peppers and jalapenos. fingers crossed it looks like the cantilope and wastermellons will produce a lot also :) congrats on your shallots they are my favorite!!
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes are just kicking in and we already have too many cucumbers. I've got a my first ever melon plant in this year (just one) so we'll have to see how it does!
DeleteAs for the shallots, I'm thinking maybe a whole 10ft by 4ft bed of them next year!
Even with the problems it looks like you had a great harvest. I can never seem to get enough alliums! Good food.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I think I would have to grow three times as many to be somewhere near self sufficient!
DeleteZero alliums, zero garlic. I'll just sit here and drool over yours ;-)
ReplyDelete