Geezer, shallots are, at base, specialized multiplying onions. As such, you can use them wherever onions are called for; or when you want a mild oniony addition to something. In addition to everything else, you can make a great topping with them. Slice into rings. Saute them in very little oil well past the coloring stage. They will turn brown and crispy. Drain these crisps and use them to top salads, casseroles, etc. As to removing the seed stalks. The ones I clipped developed fair to middling bulbs. But they didn't seem to keep well, even though I had trimmed the stalks. I only grew the Sharon's Shallot two years. By me it was more trouble than it was worth. They seem to prefer dryer conditions---in Colorado, where they come from, the bulbs grow as much as 4" but even the best of mine didn't go more than about 1 1/2". Nor did mine color up as intensely. They're supposed to have orange scales, but mine were pretty much straw colored, with just a hint of orange.

James, Once they send up a seedstalk, they've bolted and you really can't save them. They generally don't enlarge much, if any, after bolting, and their quality is greatly diminished. You also need to use them shortly after you harvest them because the seedstalk means they won't store well and will rot quickly. Onions bolt after they're exposed to low temperatures below 45 degrees after the onions are at least 1/4" in diameter. It has to do with them being biennials which grow vegetatively the first year, go into cold temperature-induced dormancy, and then flower and produce seed the second year. If your onions are smaller than 1/4", they aren't affected by the temperature-induced dormancy, but the problems occur when they're already that size and temps drop below 45 for a few nights. The cold pushed them into dormany at the wrong time, and then when it warms up and they resume growth, they flower and set seed. When I have onions bolt, I either leave them and let them flower because their flowers attract beneficial insects, or I harvest them and use them right away. There's really nothing much you can do to avoid having your onions bolt....it is a common problem in our erratic late winter and early spring weather. Dawn

Well, I think it's the last time for tying up my Tomatoes this morning--they've reached the top of the cattle panel. When I get the beds all done, I'm going to take 2 panels, fastened at one end, and put them into a raised bed-at the side--then go over a center bed-that would mean-say, bed one and three would have a end-then it would go over bed two. I want at least 2 panel ends to a bed. I figure Tomatoes, Pole beans (Fortex, of course) Squash, Watermelons, Cantelopes, etc will grow up and over-while the center bed will have shade. As my Daughter used to say "Sounds good on paper!" Then, instead of growing tall Okra, Eggplant (which I've never grown before), I'm going to go for the dwarf varities. In the meantime--I'm torn about the weather! Hot and Hotter, with no rain!Garden still looks good, havent watered yet, I dont usually. Sweet Potatoes, and Cucumbers are vining-Potatoes and Onions almost ready. Garden could use rain-BUT--if it dont rain, the fields wont be lush and green--so I can turn the horse out to pasture. Means less chores to do night and morning--and I wont have to pay $5.75 a bale for her hay. And here I used to think that when someone described a horse as "a easy-keeper" it sounded nice--it simply means they can founder on grass! KY3 said this morning that humidity in Spf. was down 68% Ours is hanging in the air--humidity here is 93% according to weatherbug. I did some mowing yesterday about 5 pm--was it hot!never realized the tractor put off so much heat. I heard we had 2 heat-related deaths in Mo. already--everyone try not to work in the heat unless you have to--and drink lots of liquids.

Bon, In a recent issue of Texas Gardener magazine, there was an article about Dixondale Farms and it said that DF grows onion plants for Bonnie Plants to sell. So, when a person buys Bonnie Plants'-labeled onions in a store, they may be buying onions raised at DF. (The article didn't say whether or not DF was the exclusive supplier for BP.) When I see BP plants in the big box stores, they often aren't labeled as far as variety goes, but whatever varieties they are, I am sure they'll grow well here if they are from DF. My only real complaint about the onions you buy at big box stores is that they often sit outdoors in the garden centers for weeks and weeks and can be incredibly dry by the time you buy them. So, if buying onion plants locally, it is best to buy them as soon as they arrive at the stores while they still are relatively fresh and green. You can hold them at home in a cool spot (I heel them in using either lava sand or plain sand in a shallow container) like down in the tornado shelter, and have held them that way before for at least 3 weeks before planting them. Growing onions from seed is not at all hard. It is just that they need to be started at a time when I am working on all the other projects that I tend to put off and ignore during the regular garden season, and I'm just not ready to start new gardening projects when I am catching up on all that stuff. I cannot spread myself too thin because when the winter fire season starts, if it is a bad year, there's not enough hours in the day. Dawn