[Stevens706]

As the winter is coming, now is the time to reflect on the past year, it could be a good idea to pass to everyone any lessons learned, so they could prevent falling into the same trap or benefit from your experiences.

For me the best lesson learned was the importance of planning and preparation, as this was my first year (only started in May) I rushed ahead and planted without really working the ground, I have now spent the rest of the year fighting weeds.

I threw my potatoes into trenches and just covered them up, so I got what I deserved. I need to add loads of manure for next year.

My peas and beans did well but need to stagger the sowings as they all came together in a glut and I couldn’t keep up with them. I plan to do 4 succession sowings of each next year.

My brasicas have been ravished by caterpillars so I will need to make some sort of netting arrangement for next year.

I was over-run by Courgettes, I planted 5 plants, next year I plan to only grow 2, should be ok for a family of 4.

Anyone got any more lessons learned.

[muntjac]

put my peas inside a pow camp stop my grand daughter from walking out onto the plot and sitting down picking them and eating them before i get a chance when asking where has jade gone ." she is on the plot in the peas " 4 yr old n a worser pest than any insects  

[Dawnte]

Being a complete newbie to the whole gardening thing, meaning that I'm actually learning what's supposed to be done rather than bunging stuff in and hoping for the best, the main thing I've learned is this:

Break things into smaller, more manageable tasks.  I have a good-sized garden at home which is rather overgrown and instead of expecting everything to get perfect all at once, I'm tackling one bed at a time and trying to keep up with the maintenance (mainly weeding) once I've done it.  The garden isn't so daunting and now I find I actually enjoy being out in it because I'm not overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs doing.

[Stevens706]

Another thing I learned just recently is to plant out winter cabbage and cauli quite deep, I have had to re-plant some down to their first leaves touching the soil, after some had rocked so much in the wind that they have broken off at the roots. I think that is the reason for the damage.

[mum of 3]

this is also our first year and next year i plan to plant more of everything,didnt realise how greedy we all our in our house

[muntjac]

If i can just offer this word of advice ,if you only have a small plot do not grow something just for the sake of it .take onions for arguments sake ,it is pointless growing onions in some places as they are so cheap in the farm shops in summer you waste good growing ground .grow things that you know are going to be expensive or are not available locally.i know i grow cabbages spuds etc i can i have the amount of ground not to worry  but i also grow calabrese which in my area goes for over £1 .30 a stalk ,bulk out your own store bought stuff yes but try to get a real benefit from the special things you grow .and dont forget the unusual .some first timers i know  go and get a plot and first thing they do is grow potatos in the mistaken belief that the potato has miracle properties and can clean an allotment for them .what cleans the plot is digging them back up at harvest and chucking out all the rubbish.what they end up with is a whole load of potatos and they probably cost £3 a sack locally anyway.and still have go and buy greens etc .plan before you start to dig the plot over ,not after you wil find it so much easier  regs karl

[GrannieAnnie]

The reason I tried to grow more potatoes this year was partly because last year when they grew potatoes in the fileds behind us, we got a letter saying could we close our windows and doors on the 18th September as they were straying the tops with sulphuric acid to kill the tops off.

But you are right, maincrops spuds are relatively cheap (although even up here in Lincolnshire they are £5 to £6 a bag!!!  I'm going to grow more earlies next year as that IS when shop or farm spuds are expensive.

I must learn better succession planting.  I do start off saying tht, but then I sow too many seeds in case they don't come up, but if they all come up, I don't like thrwing any away, so I plant what I've got then run out of room!!!

I promised OH I wouldn't plant as many tomatoes next year, but I now have 18 varieties, so there's still going to be loads, and you never know next year they might sell better if I put the plants out the front for sale!!

[muntjac]

i freeze my surplus tomatos then use them up in soups and fried they last 6mths easy in sealed conatiners

[GrannieAnnie]

We've got over 80lbs of frozen chopped tomatoes at the moment, as well as a cupboard full of passata, sauces etc in jars.  I gave lots of plants away, but still had 117 tomato plants, all of which did well, so we are not short of tomatoes!!!

[jennyb]

my big lesson learnt for this year??

get an allotment!!  because i realised how much i enjoy it and how good it is for my health  - and i just don't have the space in the back garden to do what i would like to do!

oh and peppers prefer grow bags to pots,  and my garden isn't warm enough for melons.

i should probably have learnt something out of my failed cabbages but i'm not sure what that lesson is yet!

[GG03JAG]

NEPHEWS! are young, fit and BROKE and as age catches up with me and with two acres of landscaped gardens, a veg plot, a greenhouse and a mini lake WELL WORTH THE MONEY!!

[Dragonfly]

Although a newbie and still clearing the plot I certainly have learnt that slow and steady wins the race. I try to clear a couple of square yards every day.  I am thoroughly enjoying the excercise and the feeling of achievement. For me, at least, I don't think I would be feeling so good or enthused if I only did 8hrs on a Saturday and be unable to move for the rest of the week.

From previous years of veg. gardening I found the best crops, for me, were the ones that deteroriate once picked i.e. peas, sweetcorn and new potatoes. All wonderful straight from garden to pan and then a little butter, salt, and black pepper. YUM.  Leeks from the supermarket always seem a bit lifeless so plenty of those next year.  

So here's to next year.
Dragonfly

[hayles62]

I've learnt where lots of lovely fruit trees and now a Walnut tree is that no one else bothers with and they have the added bonus of looking after themselves and costing me no pennies at all

[silver8]

For me it is to grow more of the things I like and less of the things I dont. Tons of runner beans this year even though I dont like them. Much more peas and sweetcorn for me but less pumpkins,squashs,and courgettes as there is a limit to what you can do with them.
So for me theres the basic crops - the stuff you use every day which you want loads of - Potatoes, Carrots,Onions and tomatoes.
Then theres the must have crops - Sweetcorn and Peas.
After that there are the crops you like but dont really want a glut so will be planting less of these. Cabbages,courgettes,swedes,broad beans,beetroots,brocolli etc.
Finally theres the the experiments - yellow carrots,romanesco - always fun growing and trying new things.
There are also other things I dont think I will be growing next year. Corrander - goes to seed too quickly. Spring Onions -much prefer red onions in salads. Rocket -again felt that it went to seed to easily and prefer nastusum leaves anyway.
And another lession - I will just have to invest in more netting for my soft fruit as the birds ate more than I did.

[Eristic]

On reflection of the seasons results I have come up with the following list:

Two courgette plants are enough.
Dwarf beans are a waste of space.
A wigwam of runner beans is good value.
You cannot have enough peas.
A few curly kale plants out-produce rows of cabbage without any glut.
Land that does not produce good potatoes is better used for parsnips, swede and jerusalems.
I must plant more onions and beetroot.
Areas that did not get any manure suffered badly from compaction.

Apart from remaining completely self-sufficient in veg throughout the summer (assuming swaps with other lotties is allowed) the flowers gave super results. Notably, the Cannas, Mirabilis, Verbena and the numerous varieties of Arum and banana have all done me proud.

The real paydirt for me though has to be the pleasure I have had transforming an inpenatrable patch of bramble into a productive garden.