Sunday 15 May 2011

More on Shallots plus Celery

On the advice of smithyveg I cleared all the soil and stones from underneath my Shallots to stop the skins being damaged. I also thought about making a
cheap simple cardboard gauge named after the original inventor from Loughborough, instead I purchased a digitalVernier from eBay for under £6 delivered, I will be using this for the 250g Onions as well.At the moment the largest of my Shallots measure 36.5mm,I did not intend harvesting any Pickling Shallots but as I have loads I may have a go at them, Smithy reckons that they need harvesting at 27mm, ill measure some this week and get them harvested.

 On the Celery front I have again potted on my largest 5 they had quickly outgrown their pots and are now in 2 litre pots I also removed all the suckers and stray outer leaves to tidy them up.This is also supposed to generate growth.
 Before
 After
Thinnings from 1 plant

I also got some Red cabbage and Some more Swedes planted out under netting



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10 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 May 2011 at 08:59

    Love the Vernier Gauge, I'm gonna have to get myself one of them

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  2. Marcus15 May 2011 at 09:58

    Same here :-)

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  3. Unknown15 May 2011 at 10:35

    I can reccomend it
    it is well built and accurate plus it wont go soggy in the rain.

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  4. Simon (Smithyveg)15 May 2011 at 14:58

    Pah....my specially made tool cost me nowt.

    Errrr.....Ebay you say....?

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  5. Richard W.16 May 2011 at 05:04

    I can't believe you're all getting horny over a 6 quid Chinese tool. What a lot sad bastards! Bought mine a couple of months back. LOL!!!

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  6. geoffos garden16 May 2011 at 11:13

    i bought my venier gauge about 2 years ago mainely for my wood wooking measurements but must say it also comes in handy for a lot of other things

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  7. Simon (Smithyveg)18 May 2011 at 09:11

    The 27mm measurement is a bit of a hoof in the dark as I seriously don't want them to go over the 30mm mark like they f***** well did last season!!! It may be that 28mm will suffice ....but don't quote me on that!

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  8. ontheplot23 May 2011 at 23:53

    This is my first real go at Shallots and I've got some at 30 to 34 mm. I notice all the books say lift on the longest day 21/22 June do you do that or lift earlier.

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  9. Anonymous24 May 2011 at 10:46

    Ontheplot, I will be lifting mine before the longest day, as if you leave it too long they will start secondary growth (deviding again )I will be checking every day from now on, you need to look for new growth from the centre as when this stops they are ready to start secondary growth, and even if you lift them they will carry on and go out of shape. I am aiming for 47mm as they will then swell to around 50mm when ripening hope that helps Paul

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  10. Anonymous24 May 2011 at 10:47

    Had to answer as anonymous for some reason I cant answer as pauls allotment blogh

    ReplyDelete