Sonoma County Master Gardeners Helping Sonoma Gardeners

Shallots

By Sara Malone, Sonoma County Master Gardener

Shallots, like onions, garlic and chives are Alliums, a family of about 700 species of mostly ornamental bulbous and rhizomatous perennials. While some cooks use shallots and onions interchangeably, shallots are a separate species with a taste all their own. They also grow differently – onions form a single bulb, while shallots form ‘offsets’ – little clusters of bulbs, attached at the base. There are actually two common distinct species of shallots – the Allium cepa which is the red-skinned shallot that is most common in the U.S. (although they are often referred to as ‘French Red Shallots’) or A. oschaninii, generally called French Grey Shallots. Purists will insist that the Gray shallots are superior in taste to the Red. They do have different tastes, and the Reds are infinitely easier to peel than the Grays. There are some other types, such as

Shallots can be planted in November in Sonoma County – even a bit later if you don’t mind giving up some garden space in the spring, as once you plant them you will have to wait for them to mature before you can reclaim that garden space. Planting is very simple – Shallots are very tolerant and can withstand a wide pH range (from about 5-6.8). Sonoma County has a lot of acid soil, so at least with shallots you do not have to worry about pH. Plant them in full sun in well-drained soil that you have amended or top-dressed with some compost. The looser the soil composition, the larger your shallots will grow. It is important that your soil not be deficient in phosphorus, which it should not be if your soil is not highly weathered or excessively alkaline – rare conditions in Sonoma County. Shallots, like garlic, are a favorite food of gophers, so make sure to use hardware cloth or other wire protection under your bed.

To plant your shallots, separate multiple bulbs and plant each one individually with the root end down. They should be spaced about 6” apart in rows about 10” apart. Plant them so that the tip of the bulb is just level with the top of the soil. Each bulb will form a cluster of about 5-10 bulbs around the original bulb that you plant. Mulch sparingly, as the shallots are not strong enough to push through a thick, heavy layer of mulch. I use a light layer of alfalfa hay, which I augment around the stalks once they have come up. Shallots need good drainage, or the bulbs will rot, so even though they love water, make sure that they dry out in between waterings and that the bed drains well.

In the spring, feed the shallots with compost or a well-balanced fertilizer before the bulbs have begun to enlarge. They do best with about 1” of water per week – keep this in mind if we have long periods in between rainfall, especially in the spring when the weather warms. Remove any flower stalks – you want your shallots to concentrate on bulb formation, not flowering. Keep the bed well-weeded to reduce competition (the mulch will help). Your shallots are ready to harvest when the tops yellow and begin to fall over. Last year I planted mine in October and harvested in May (in Petaluma). Your experience may be a bit different, depending on where you are and when you plant. Last year I planted red shallots, this year I planted grays. They can go in as early as September and as late as early December. Watch for them to ‘bulb out’ in the late spring – that is another signal that they are ready to harvest. This sometimes happens almost at the last minute, so don’t despair if it seems that it is nearly time to harvest and you don’t yet have big bulbs.

Shallots are, in my mind, a good use of garden real estate because they are expensive to buy in the grocery store and they are very easy to grow. You can actually plant the bulbs that you buy in the grocery, but it is not recommended as those bulbs may not be the best cultivar, you don’t know how they have been stored, etc. Shallots are available from local nurseries such as Harmony Farm Supply (which had a good selection of red shallots the last time I was in) or mail order sources such as Peaceful Valley (www.groworganic.com) . Gray Shallots are available from specialty suppliers such as Tesch Family Farms (www.preciousfruit.com).

You can use shallots in cooking in almost any recipe that calls for onions. I add about a half a teaspoon of finely chopped shallots to my salad dressing, which I make when I begin to prepare dinner. The shallots soak in the vinegar and get soft and flavor the dressing with their sweetness. I also like to slice them and toss them with cubes of butternut squash and olive oil, and roast them in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

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