We picked the garlic, all of it was getting rust, though it would effect the bulbs, they definately weren’t getting any bigger. Looking around the other allotments, everyone’s garlic has rust. Maybe its something you just have to put up with. I think by planting the garlic much earlier, say october the year before, I believe you can get much bigger bulbs. Anyhow, we got a few good bulbs, which we tried plaiting, and a whole load of smaller ones. These are from the cloves I bought in a delicatecent. Just goes to show you don’t have to buy the expensive garden centre garlic! The garlic plait is still drying in our kitchen. If the weather was better we could hang it outside to help.
We also picked the shallots and tried plaiting some too. The shallots are smaller than I thought, but they just weren’t going to get any bigger. I think in general the shallots I bought might have been a small breed, but on top of that I believe the soil is definately poor in nutrients. I keep seeing evidence of this again and again. Maybe planting them earlier too would help?
Overall we have a lot of garlic and a lot of shallots. But do we eat that many? The garlic is definately useful, though next time I will hunt out a particularly tasty breed. Having SO much averagely tasting garlic is not so great. The shallots on the other hand, I just hardly ever use. I am using them, but because I have so many, I’m using them in all cases in replacement of onions. Shallots can be great, but they are just so damn fiddley to peel and you need to peel so many more because they are small. I think, practically speaking, a good crop of onions are definately the way to go. Some shallots yes, particularly if they are a interesting or tasty breed, but not in a replacement for onions. Conclusion? Garlic good, need to target a good breed. Shallots meh, few or none next year, maybe a small number of a fun breed. Onions yes.
