Pigletwillies Banana Shallot Seed update

[smallblueplanet]

Just lifted our pw shallots (and some garlic), looking forward to tasting them.

[shirlthegirl43]

Those look lovely SBP. I was really upset that I got none from two sowings - well unless you count the one that made it to 2 inches high then keeled over!

I am hoping Piglet will have more seed to offer next spring and I will try again.

[smallblueplanet]

I might have to try sweet-talking the piglet again next year, the OH dug them all (about 15?) and didn't leave any to seed. The other of this years seed we gave to next door, I'll have to check with Edgar how they went.

[shallotman]

My late father cut the seed head with approx 8 inches of stem, then placed them in Brown Paper bags, [available from greengrocer stalls,] & hung them in the shed for some considerable time before removing, most of the seed would fall out into the bags as they ripened. Shallotman

[Snadger]

I might have to try sweet-talking the piglet again next year, the OH dug them all (about 15?) and didn't leave any to seed. The other of this years seed we gave to next door, I'll have to check with Edgar how they went.

If you still have one or two, dry them off and replant them either in the Autumn or Spring. If they are a true shallot they should grow and divide but even if they grow and go straight to seed you have achieved what you wanted!

[Alice]

SBP, if I remember rightly, Piglets got £10 up for grabs ( and the glory that goes with it) with the longest PW banana shallot. Why not pick your best one and photo it beside a ruler. Who knows - it could be YOOOOOOOOO !

[wellie]

Alice, Now you've 'got me'... How would PW judge the 'Longest' Shallot?!
I mean that with the greatest of respect, by the way! From 'Where' to 'Where'!
I only ask that really, because I have cut all the dead top growth off mine, and have put them, all neat and tidy to dry a teeny bit further for now, until I use them all up in cooking dishes for the freezer over the next 8-10 weeks.

I'll take a photo all the same, before I use them, just in case.
I could do with a Tenner. I owe Hazel that, and a Fiver on top....

[smallblueplanet]

SBP, if I remember rightly, Piglets got £10 up for grabs ( and the glory that goes with it) with the longest PW banana shallot...

Lol! That pigletwillie he's sooo sizest!

[Alice]

Don't ask me Wellie. Ask Piglet. It's his money and I think he's the sole judge. So he who pays the piper calls the tune. Piglet gets to tell us where size matters.

[tricia]

I planted out my two surviving plants in late June, which the slugs and or snails happily munched after they had been replanted. A b......... cat had unearthed them in order to make room for it to do its business - so I have nothing to show for all my hopes.

So sorry PW.

[Peter]

I seem to remember that Piglets largesse stemmed from a desire to get an english strain up and going.
To do this all of us who recieved his seeds need to keep some of the resulting bulbs (if lucky enough to survive that far0 for re-planting next year and subsequent seed production.

So please don't eat or cook all you get.

[Down in Dorset]

I suffered from a fairly high failure rate too, with about 10 surviving shallots in my plot. They have all lost their tops and so I will pull them up at the weekend.

I'll keep them and replant as 'sets' next season - I kept some seed too, and will try a second batch.

This has certainly been an unusual year weather-wise, so it may not be fair to reflect on the shallots seed-making success this time round!

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Down in Dorset. Do come back and tell us what else you are growing.

[wellie]

I've got a little bit of seed left, having parted with majority of what I had left for someone's failure, which I'd not anticipated, and I wish I hadn't been that generous now, if truth be known.... Note to self: be slightly less generous in future!

[Alice]

But how are the ones you kept doing Wellie ? I've got a few shallots, no great crop for the work expended, but in the spirit of getting a viable strain, soldiering on with them. At one point I think I said if I got one shallot I would be delighted. I'm upgrading that statement and saying if I get one seed I'll be well pleased. Bring on the sunshine - and the shallots - and their seeds. Good luck everybody.