French grey shallots

[Zelenina]

Has anyone here tried growing French grey shallots, aka échalote grise or Griselle? Hi French grapes! I expect you have. Are they as easy to grow as ordinary shallots? Are there any special tips for growing them? Should I plant them now or wait a bit longer? Do they really taste special? When will they be ready to harvest, and how long do they keep?

I'm asking because I managed to get some at last, without going to France, or paying huge postal fees to get them sent from abroad. I discovered a Slovak company I could order them from online, and I ordered three packages, plus some onion sets and a few packets of seeds to make up the minimum order of €20. And I managed to successfully negotiate their rather unusual ordering process, and they were duly delivered by courier

They're packaged by a German company, and on the packet in German it calls them yellow winter shallots. But the variety name is Griselle, and they look like the real thing. Not really grey but paler coloured and thicker skinned than ordinary shallots.

[Nicos]

I've never grown them, but reading up on them I will be next year!

[Zelenina]

They sound good don't they! Why wait until next year?

[Nicos]

They do!

We usually start shallots off in Feb in seed trays to get a good root system on them and then plant them out later.
It's only our 7th year here and were still sussing out the weather....I suppose I worry they will rot if I plant them soon.
We seem to get -18C at times in winter or prolonged wet periods.
As we've had good results using our seed trays I was happy with that!
But hey...why not!....I'll look out for them and give it a bash!

[Zelenina]

These are supposed to be autumn planted. They are a different species from the usual ones. And I think they are very hardy. So go on. Give it a go! We can compare notes.

[Zelenina]

And as soon as you've sussed out the weather it'll change. That's the way things are nowadays. So might as well try things out and experiment and hope something works.

[Bigmallly]

Here's a small thread on them...........

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ots_39921.html

[sparrow100]

I've got Jermor and am putting them in this weekend if there's time. Not grown shallots before so am looking forward to this.

[roitelet]

I have grown them but didn't find the produced a very good crop and a pain to peel because of the fery hard skins. Inow grow Mikador for autumn planting.

[Zelenina]

That's great, sparrow! hope you do get time to plant them. I need to plant mine soon too. Jermor is a French red shallot, and I presume Mikador is a similar kind. Easier to peel than the grey ones, as roitelet says, and they store longer too.

I grew some French red ones last season, and I'm going to plant some of them again. But I don't know the variety because they were sold for eating, not growing. They grew and multiplied fine without much attention. At least as good as the Red Sun that were meant for planting, but I haven't tasted them yet. How do the Mikadors and Griselles compare for flavour, roitelet?

[Zelenina]

I planted my Griselles and some French red shallots today Did you do yours sparrow? And Nicos, did you find any?

[Nicos]

Not had chance to look Zelenina...I don't get out much!!!

...but they are on my list , as are Mikador.

[roitelet]

Sorry it is along time since I grew Griselles and I can't remember the flavour