Date: March 18th 2011

If you have had any growing weather at all, this would be an excellent time to influence growth with a well balanced fertility approach. We have been seeing good growth since about the last week of February since we applied a good N-P-K and micronutrient mix through the drip irrigation, and are continuing this going forward, through early May. April will be our largest fertility input month. Big healthy plants free of competition from weeds, diseases, and insects have the most potential to react to good growing weather and moisture.

This season in the southern San Joaquin Valley of California appears to be light due to reduced plantings, but experimentation of new shallot varieties may yield some new looks for future years. The supplies we have planted appear to be approaching their best form as the weather has been favorable.

Shipping occurs after harvest, and not before June / July, usually mostly in September and October. We grow for a fall planting market in North America. We expect shipping expenses to be closely tied to the cost of oil, so be aware that this factor alone may be a challenge, and we encourage you to organize your order requests with freight as a factor and any flexibility indicated will be appreciated. We typically ship United States Postal Service flat rate up to 1 pound, 7 pounds, and 15 pounds combined, and often UPS thereafter. More details on this later.

Good luck and good growing,

Greg Tesch
www.garlicseed.com
www.shallotseed.com