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Shallot Varieties
The three varieties of fall shallots that we currently offer are Ambition, Monique, and Roderique. The
Ambition variety is a traditionally shaped round shallot that contains a red to copper skin color and white flesh interior. The
Monique variety is a semi-long shape that has a great disease-resistant and longer storage window. The
Roderique is another elongated variety that makes it easier for slicing into smaller pieces for cooking.
Fall Shallots
Shallots are best known as a cooking onion and can be used in several different recipes when cooking on the homestead. If you combine the flavor of garlic and onion, that is pretty much the flavor profile of a shallot. When it comes to planting fall shallots, there is a proper way of planting them in order for them to be successful in the vegetable garden. Travis mentions that you can take our
Single Wheel Hoe with the
plow set attachment and create a little trench for the bulbs to be planted in. When placing the shallots in the trench, the root end has to be planted downward with the stem end facing up in the vegetable garden. The guys mention that there rule when it comes to planting alliums is to plant two weeks before your first frost date. For example, our first frost date on average is towards the end of November, so back up two weeks and our ideal planting time would be mid-November. Since the onions, shallots, and elephant garlic are all heavy-feeders they need at least an inch of water each week.
Drip tape irrigation is the best way to ensure that these crops are getting all the water they need directly to the plant roots. The fertilizer requirements for the fall shallots is to start off with a complete fertilizer to help with root development. Then, once the plants start growing will switch over to just applying nitrogen. Overall, when planting fall shallots making sure you plant them properly in the garden and apply an accurate amount of irrigation and fertilizer will ensure that you get a successful planting throughout the growing season.
Show and Tell Segment
On the show and tell segment, Travis currently has a few onion transplants planted for the fall growing season. However, Greg is going to try transplanting the
Savannah Sweet variety in a little onion bed in the vegetable garden area. Most of the transplants in the greenhouse have started developing their true leaves, so the guys plan on applying a little fertilizer like the 20-20-20 to the plants soon. Travis also explains that he is no longer going to do the two-minute tip videos, but will still upload longer videos on Tuesdays instead.
Viewer Questions Segment
On the question and answer segment this week, the guys answer questions about how much fertilizer to put along a row and how to create a row garden in an unestablished area for the Spring. Travis explains that according to whatever recommended fertilizer you are using and the size of your garden area you simply do a little algebra to figure out the correct amount. Greg mentions when making a new garden area the first step is to get the soil worked in and kill off the vegetative that is currently growing there. Next, take a soil test in order to adjust the soil and get the garden soil in the right range usually between 6 to 7.0. Then, during the wintertime, grow a cover crop of rye until you are ready to work in it again and get it ready for planting.
Products of the Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w15MH9w23_o
