Medwyn Williams offers shallot-showing advice
Ensure your shallots are the right size by reading the schedule thoroughly
Ilifted my shallots on the longest day of the year (June 21), which is traditionally the day growers will lift them. In my case, though, it just happened to be a nice dry day and there was nothing more important calling at the time. After lifting them, I shook the soil from the roots and laid them out on a bench in the polytunnel. I went through all of them again towards the end of July, removing any loose skins and making sure they were all healthy bulbs.
I’m getting ready for the shows now. My biggest shallots are 16.5cm (6.5in) round, which is good, but not as good as the ones I had last year. However the pickling shallots have done really
well and there are certainly plenty to select from for the shows. The pickling shallots, according to both the RHS Horticultural Show Handbook and the NVS Judges’ Guide, ‘must’ pass through the 30mm pickling shallot ring. The important word here is ‘must’. If they don’t pass through the ring they won’t be judged, but will be awarded the NAS card (not according to schedule).
However the bible on the day is the actual show schedule so make sure you look up the wording they use for the pickling shallot class. If it states a given dish ‘should’ pass through a 30mm ring then you might get away with a slightly larger shallot, since the word ‘should’ gives the judge discretion to allow them to be judged.
When selecting your shallots, once you’re happy all those at the optimum size pass through the ring, you can start choosing your set. Check that every bulb is in good condition, which is five points from the maximum of 15, and thereafter that you have excellent uniformity, as that has a maximum of four points. The remainder of the points are: two for size, two for shape and two for colour.
Good luck at the shows!