Bulb saving - garlic and shallots

[Kaiya]

I've heard mention a couple of times (by Zazen I think) about 'perennial' shallots, where you dig up a mature bunch of shallots, and replant some to become the next harvest. And I've heard about keeping some cloves of garlic from the harvest to be next year's lot.

I've currently got overwintering shallots and garlic growing well - if I wanted to save some when I harvest them, do I take them out, dry them and then replant them in October as I did this year with the original sets, or replant them immediately?

[rustylady]

Harvest as normal, dry them as normal, and select some nice ones to replant at the normal time.

[Leeds_lad]

Harvest as normal, dry them as normal, and select some nice ones to replant at the normal time.

Normal time as in autumn or early spring? Some people do differently

[Alison]

Normal time as in the right time for the variety, ie if the originals are autumn sowing then so will be the babies etc. You can do this with all garlic and multiplying shallots, there aren't special perennial types. I find that you get the best result from the smallest shallots so win all round as you can eat the biggest

[Kaiya]

Excellent! Thank you I planted all of these in October (started in modules in October, then planted out November, mulched with the last grass mowings over winter) so I guess since they did well I'll repeat the same with their offspring.

Very exciting - apart from flower bed seeds (poppy, lupin and nigella) and volunteer potatoes this will be my first attempt at 'seed' saving.

[Feral007]

I've got loads of spring onions that my father gave me several years ago. In fact, when the kids weren't eating as many of them I actually had to throw some out

I hate throwing out anything green.

[zazen999]

The idea of them being perennial is that you just dig out the crown, take most of them but replant one straight back in the same place for next year.

[planetologist]

I do the same as zazen999 with my garlic and perpetual onions: dig up, and replant straight away, though I don't put them in the same place, but practice crop rotation.

[Kaiya]

And they don't bolt next year if you plant them immediately? Might try both as my track record of drying things is awful.

[planetologist]

No, these are a shop bought softneck garlic variety that never bolt.