Allium 2011

[Lesley Cox]

You must be referring to the unusually attractive onion fancier on that page 

But she wants to be aloooooone.

[Stephenb]

We are never sowing seeds in soil where has been alliums the year before, and even if we did; the chance is very little that other species grow in between the one's we sow, because the soil is plought 30 cm every year and when we do not collect allium seeds we remove the flowers before they produce seeds. We do not use chemicals with growing allium, only some to reduce the weeds growing to fast. In the first and second year of the seeds we remove al weed by hand, and believe me... that is a lot of work!
The seeds are harvested the first time after 2 growing seasons, what we sow last november is going to be harvested in 2013 the first time. We post again some photo's when there is something more to see.

Even more impressive seeing much of this is done by hand!

[Stephenb]

I would very much like to know what this vegetable Allium is - known as Gandana. See

http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/edible-garden-global-crops-00418000071219/page6.html

Any ideas=?

[ronm]

I'm thinking Allium guttatum.

[bulborum]

I found this

Roland

Botanical name:Allium ascalonicum Linn.
Family:Liliaceae.

Indian names are as follows:
Hindi:Ek-kanda-lasun, Gandana
Bengali:Gundhun
Punjabi:Gandana, Gandhan

[ronm]

Isn't A.ascalonicum the shallot we know and love? It seems on the foodie forums that the shallot is not considered as 'Gandana', but I agree Roland it most probably is these days!

[Stephenb]

Yes, I'd seen those comments of it not being shallot - probably the same name is used for different plants. I'd like to know what the other one is...

I thought Allium ascalonicum was nowadays considered a different species to standard shallots? The French Grey shallot (Griselle)  is supposed to be ascalonicum. I grow Griselle here and it is much more hardy than shallot, overwintering well. 

[bulborum]

There are a lot of different A. ascalonicum
it is probably one of the old ones
less giant as the modern ones
like the fantastic tasting A. cepa var. aggregatum

Roland

[ronm]

Perfect example of the problem with 'common names'. The same name can be applied to different plants in different areas, and unfortunately also changes over time. 

[TheOnionMan]

It's like the term "scallion", which is generally attributed to A. fistulosum, although as the term "scallion" gets used, it really just means any number of Allium species and oniony vegetable cultivars that get picked in the green, e.g. green onions.

Here's a pair of unusual scallions:
http://www.thenibble.com/images/ScallionHaircut3.jpg

I wonder about the etymology of the term "rapscallion"

[Stephenb]

Finn Wischmann was one of Norway's most respected botanists. He died last year in his 90s. I was reading his entertaining obituary last night in the Norwegian Botany Journal Blyttia. The man had such an aversion to the onion family, both Allium in food and in the wild (e.g.,  a ramsons wood) that  his colleagues and students coined the phrase alliophobic for him. This word isn't new for Google though, there's a few alliophobes scattered around the planet. Just don't let them into my garden let alone Mark's, they will have serious problems...

Eric Bloch in his comprehensive Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science seems to have missed this condition...

Maybe I need to put a sign up "Alliums: Enter at your own risk"...