Harvesting shallots

[Warren R Sole]

hi all, I'm completely new to growing stuff so please forgive me if I'm asking the obvious but I have my first crop of shallots ready. Is there anything I should know about them? Should I dry them before I use them perhaps?

I ask because my spinach died after i used half the crop as baby spinach and perhaps should have taken the lot as they were all ready.

Thanks in advance.
WRS

[Nicos]

Have they died back fully already?Wow!

We pull ours out of the soil and leave them on the surface in the sun to dry out then store them on a wire mesh in a cool dark place where the air can get to the surfaces so they don't go mouldy.
You can use them straight away if you want but they will store like that ( turning occasionally) for several months.
We are still using some we pulled at the end of last summer.

[Warren R Sole]

Thanks Nicos, I found the info page and apparently they aren't ready yet because they're still green.

Thanks for the response though, it is one for the info bank.

It's encouraging to know that they keep well though.

[burnie]

The reason for letting the tops die and then dry thoroughly is to aid keeping qualities, you can use them now, they might just be a bit on the smaller side. Same applies with the larger Onions.

[Warren R Sole]

Thamks Burnie, I have one which is much further on but I'll wait a few days.