The first PDO sweet Cévennes onions should have been harvested mid-August, but the rainy weather has delayed the campaign. “Towards the end of cultivation, producers stop watering the onions so the tops can dry about 10 days before the harvest. However, with the rainfall we’ve had in July, we must delay the harvest by 2 weeks and we hope the temperatures will go up to make the tops drop faster. Approximately 15 of the 80 producers will have PDO onions available for sale around mid-August,” explains Carl Grandidier of Origine Cévennes.
A promising campaign
For the moment, the harvest looks promising in terms of volume and quality. “The weather conditions since planting lead us to believe that this year’s harvest will be good. However, nothing is certain yet. We will know more once the harvest starts. We hope this will happen soon, otherwise we will probably have too many large calibers. Towards the end of cultivation, the onions indeed gain 1 to 2 mm each day.”
An eagerly awaited harvest
The last PDO sweet Cévennes onions were sold in early February, so this is an eagerly awaited harvest. “Marketing ended relatively early last year. Since July, our clients have been calling us to know when the first PDO onions will be available.”
The non PDO onions are now available
The PDO onions are late, but the marketing of the first sweet onions has begun. “We are quite on time because the onions were transplanted three weeks ahead of schedule. The first shipments of non PDO onions left on Monday and are now available for our clients.”
For more information:
Carl Grandidier
Origine Cévennes
Route de Valleraugue
30570 St-André-de-Majencoules
Phone: +33 4 67 82 50 64
Mobile: +33 6 79 29 49 11
carl@originecevennes.com
www.oignon-doux-des-cevennes.fr