Eggplant

Today, I also harvested two Asian eggplants. This deserves a separate post and needs to be celebrated, as I have not had much luck with eggplants in my plot in the past. I did not grow this particular plant from seed but rather purchased it from Neighborhood Farms back in May. It did exceptionally well in my plot, and today, I harvested the first two eggplants.

Super happy eggplant

Shallots

Today, I harvested my Roderique shallots, a French banana-shaped type. It is the first time I have a real crop, yay! I am so excited as I absolutely love shallots, and they supposedly store very well. Last year, I only harvested three bulbs total (the rabbits got the rest), but this time around it is 34. I had planted them on April 26, and they were ready for harvest as they had started to lean with the bulbs pushing out of the ground, and the foliage was starting to yellow.

Shallots pushing out of the ground and leaning, ready for harvest

I will now let them cure in the shade on my porch for the next two weeks before I prepare them for long time storage, either by braiding them or just cutting off the stems and storing the bulbs in the pantry.

34 shallots in total, ready to be cured

I found three seed shallots from back in April. The have come a long way since 🙂

Size comparison: What I had planted vs. what I harvested

I cure my shallots on my south-facing back porch. It is shaded for part of the day by large trees, but there are a few hours of full sun in the afternoon. Last year, I devised a method to shade my garlic while curing – weighted-down umbrellas. It worked great, so here we go again.

Tried-and-true method of providing shade on my porch