Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: New shoot on November 23, 2019, 20:37
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Relax folks - I mean your growing season :lol:
It is getting near the end of the year and the time when we all start planning next year, so time for a review :D
I'm pretty happy overall. I had a few things bolt early on in the year when the temperatures shot up, but they were quick growing greens so not much lost. It has been a soggy end as well, but luckily most was gathered in before the weather really turned.
My notable gluts were beetroot, which just went mad, cabbages and outdoor toms. I grew Crimson Crush and Ferline and have loads of tomato sauce in the freezer, plus jars of dried tomato. It was also a great year for apples and pears, gooseberries, raspberries, hybrid berries and currants.
Sweetcorn, potatoes, onions, leafy greens, beans and squash all did really well. The greenhouse supplied plenty of cherry and beefsteak toms, peppers and aubergines and is now providing pickings of oriental greens, salads and herbs. There are still decent crops of perpetual spinach, swede and cabbage to come from the plot.
Some failures though. I've grown mini corn for a few years, but it just seems to have lost flavour. The last couple of years of harvest have been so-so. I'm giving it a miss next year. The quinces also fell prey to the weather. Just as they were ripening, it turned really wet and they all turned brown and rotted on the tree :( Oh and my leeks look fab, but are also bolting one at a time. There seems to be some mysterious secret list of whose turn it is next that I have not been made party to >:( Not too much to moan about really :)
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Well done you, News - that's one heck of a season! It's also great that you have a freezer bunged up with everything spare too - that always makes a difference around February!
Here? Toms, excellent with half the number of plants, sweet corn - total failure! Sweet Peas - fabulous, salads, still going strong in the GH! Runners - Hmmmmm, I reckon some brand new seed next year - up to now, we've always saved seed, but I'd like to try the new strains, as well as do more Cherokee Trail of Tears, as we didn't have room for many... Carrots are still going strong two ft up in buckets, they're huge now, but starting to get a bit woody!
Rasps are in their new places, as are blueberries, and we still have some Joan J on the go (just picked a pound) but they seem to like their new homes, and we'll increase the stock next year!
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Being at the top of the plots, I really struggled to keep things alive through the very dry months, so lots of stuff suffered.
Peas gave a poor yield, runner beans the same despite watering. The only bean that seemed to cope well was Mennonite Purple Stripe, a heritage variety. Sophie Coco French beans only grew to waist height and then gave up :(
Poor yield of potatoes, but squash yield quite good, they coped better with the heat. For some reason the courgettes did poorly, though - no glut this year!
Early planted corn was okish, not as many cobs as usual - but the 2nd lot produced flower stalks before there were any cobs to be pollinated :wacko: So that idea didn't work. Mini-corn was a failure as well, just couldn't water them enough.
Fruits on the Tayberry and Loganberries at the top boundary dried up before they ripened, but the Raspberries which have a bit of shade were ok, as were the red currants.
Summer cabbages and calabrese bolted, winter cabbage, swede and chard are ok.
The big onions liked the heat and did well, but haven't stored well, garlic ok. Leeks waited a long while before they could be planted, as the soil was set like concrete, but they are fattening up after all this rain.
Most of the salad leaves were a right off, tomatoes were late and ended sooner than usual, so not many in the freezer this year.
Cucumbers did better than usual but they're always contrary LOL.
None of my pepper plants did well, I don't know if this was iffy compost, irregular watering, too hot or my saved seeds loosing vitality over the years, who knows?
All in all, one of those years when you shrug your shoulders and hope next year is a better return for your efforts :)
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June is always the key month for the 'summer stuff', and this year it was mostly cool and dull until the short, sudden heatwave at the end. The usually (relatively) reliable Marketmore outdoor cukes didn't even waste time sulking before dying. :nowink: Even the toms and cukes in the GH looked miserable until July.
Most outdoor crops caught up and did reasonably well in the end, although the sweetcorn struggled a bit, including having unhelpful weather at pollination time.
First time experiments: Cobra French beans were a little underwhelming, but will give them another chance next year, Uchiki Kuri squash only managed 2 grapefruit size fruits between 2 plants, but I think they may have been somewhat swamped by the rampaging courgettes which produced the usual embarrassment of riches.
Blueberries had one of their vintage years, although this year the blackbirds were still around at ripening time and I had to net them, which I've not had to do for several years.
After several years sowing either too early or too late I finally managed to grow usable Florence Fennel. ;)
Tomatoes in the GH and open cold frame did very well in the end, as did the La Diva cukes (reckon John's tip about feeding with high nitrogen fertiliser rather than tomato feed prolonged the cropping period compared with previous years.)
So, not bad for what was quite a challenging year - next year will of course be brilliant for everything and everyone everywhere! ;)
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like most we have our ups and our downs starting of with our winter cauliflowers Boris brilliant crop despite the pigeons having a go that will teach me to net them properly next time :D
onions very good both sets turbo seed raised element and salad onion carel and tipika broad beans masterpiece green long pod average beetroot very good crimson king bona and bettollo climbing French bean cobra good runner bean polestar stringless good
cabbage Greyhound and stonehead average brussels kale and cabbice slug damaged pumpkin Tom fox good butternut squash hunter good swede failure parsnip average tender and true summer cauli slug damage
carrot no show potatoes cara good cropping but slug or worm damage earl varieties in raised beds good
lettuce little gem good sweetcorn golden hind V good peas failure cucumbers and tomatoes in the greenhouse average considering they where sown late very good crop of plumbs
although our growing season could have been better we came out I think about average considering we re-planted new beds of raspberries strawberries and gooseberries
of cause there is as ever room for improvement next season god willing we need to improve our brassicas growing and others I have since built more raised beds because I'm finding raised beds more manageable and we have an added advantage piped water I told the wife there are many things in my head what to do down the allotments next spring what did she say she :D whatever would she do that for?
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I had a good year many things went really well. I have not dug any yet but if the diameter of the top of the root is an indicator for what lies bellow I may have some sensational parsnips! I only have a half dozen, because I was impatient and never gave enough time to germinate, but the top of the roots are about 4 ins diameter! I made a cone in the soil about a foot deep and back filled with compost and sowed them on top so I am hoping the are a decent length below the soil... they are for Christmas ... I hope Santa is good to me! For next year I have prep'd seven new deep no dig beds so I will be trying them in there for next year.
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For me, the good was cabbages, kale, carrots, beets, peas, beans, purple sprouting, garlic, sweetcorn and huge number of raspberries.
The total failures were Cauliflower (bolted), broccoli (top rotted), sprouts (destroyed by an army of caterpillars), onions (downy mildew)
Tomatoes and potatoes were mediocre at best.
So, a mixed bag, but not bad for my 2nd year.
Next year I’m taking on a second plot, in a much sunnier place so that should make a big difference. Also, busy building the next generation of crop protection, I lost count of the number of times I’d see cabbage whites inside my enviromesh cage.
I also struggled with weeding this year, so next year, where appropriate I’ll be planting through weed control fabric.
My final change next year will be to stop growing 4m rows of veg and use smaller 2m beds to get more variety within the space I have.
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My ambitions seemed to outstrip the time I could allocate this year. So having said that super happy with a bumper crop of broad beans last years autumn sown. Onions, garlic, shallots and elephant garlic were all good crops too. Potatoes, all varieties were OK but no bumper crops. A freezer full of pureed tomatoes now so satisfied with the overall quantity but I did have a lot of plants. As success? Possibly the best crop of carrots and parsnips I've ever had. Surprising perhaps given the poorish potato harvest.
Overall happy and think next year I can put more time in
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An excellent year for most things - we got rain when needed and enough sun most of the time; much better than many others had further south. Lovely crop of forced rhubarb so must go and put pot over another crown soon. Tomatoes did exceedingly well in the tunnel and now have enough roasted, blitzed and frozen to last until next season. Blueberries and other soft fruit bottled and ditto; good harvest of apples and damsons but pears so so. Carrots, leeks, fennel, onions and parsnips benefited from the new raised beds and carrots from netting (photos, hopefully, attached for amusement - family thought net curtains a hoot!); self sufficient in them for the year although I reckon I've overdone the onions, is that possible?! Garlic success - a first. First real crop off asparagus - very welcome. Sweet corn Honeydew two excellent cobs per plant, wow for us; runner and French beans very good, broad beans less so; mange touts excellent yield although flavour of Golden Sweet dull at best; courgettes and squash outside good, memo to self do not grow squash in tunnel again - it took over and didn't produce more than those outside. Spuds good although some rotting in sacks now so need to check more than usual; Brassicas ok to poor this year - caulis and Brussels - disaster, poor germination then hit by very cold spell at end of April, resow didn't germinate or got by slugs as soon as; purple sprouting, kale ok; swedes, turnips, kohl rabi ok but soil still needs improving in that bed; sweet and chilli peppers in tunnel could do better - more watering probably (bigger sump needs digging as not on mains water). Spinach and coriander - sigh; if they don't bolt the voles nip the shoots off. Latest attempts lying in sad piles in the tunnel although Oriental salad greens in there left alone. Some lovely new species of butterflies even if too many "whites" at times and honey bees have found us at last. Overall a busy and successful year. Next year - more effort on peppers, spinach and coriander, more weeding to GET RID of that sheeps' sorrel (Rumex acetosella). HORRIBLE stuff. ?more raised beds?? Fence blackcurrants and gooseberries against Bambi and hares!
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I think like everyone else I had successes and failures, and, no doubt, next year will be the same.
On my little pear tree at home I had more than 80 lbs of fruit. I stopped weighing them after 80 lbs, and now have jars and jars of bottled pears and pear and vanilla jam to see my hubby through the winter. He absolutely loves pears. Strawberries were good, and the new plum tree produced a lot more fruit than I was expecting.
Broccoli did really well, and for the first time I had masses of side shoots to pick following on from the main head. Caulis were excellent (Clapton and Candid Charm). Dwarf French beans were prolific. Beetroot not so good, but this year I actually managed to grow a PROPER swede, for the very first time, and after years of trying.
Potatoes, hit and miss, and whichever variety I cook, they all go into the water unless steamed. Carrots and Parsnips germinated wonderfully well, but most of them look like triffids when dug up, despite the ground not having been manured. Radishes were rubbish. Leeks and onions excellent.
Grew Crimson Crush and the new Crimson Blush tomatoes. Crimson Crush produced massive crops, as did the Crimson Blush, which is a huge tomato, but the problem is that 80% of them rotted before ripening. I'll do Crimson Crush again, but not Crimson Blush. Loads of jars of pasta sauce and ratatouille, with a drawerful of packs of roasted tomatoes for through the winter. Still have plenty of winter savoy cabbage, sprouts, radicchio, carrots, parsnips and swedes on the plot. Butternut squash in store at home.
All in all not a bad season at all, but whatever successes and failures we have we always seem to end up with more than enough to see us through, so I'm grateful for that.
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Good: Raspberries and apples plentiful, dwarf beans and broad beans good, potatoes and onions successful, kale good; more red and green cabbage than we could eat
Hit and miss: Peas and courgettes
Better than usual: carrots
Mishaps: the purple sprouting broccoli went straight to seed; garlic didn't do well at all
Plenty of butternut squash and pumpkins
It didn't feel like a particularly good year but it was plentiful mostly
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We did reasonable well with most crops this year, biggest disappointment was main crop carrots.
1 potato was 1.5kg and won heaviest at show.
However, the highlight of the year was our allotment won best overall allotment in the council area approx 430 plots. We have achieved silver gilt 3 times before but this year we were awarded gold and then the overall prize.
We were very pleased
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Well done Wiltshire Worms :D That is an impressive set of awards :D
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Good: broad beans ( I started off in pots before planting out as previously mice ate the seeds), cucumbers ( I have cracked how to do them, they need plenty of space and a support), sweetcorn, onions, garlic.
Ok: tomatoes- average flavour this year, the Black Russian not as “ wow” as it could be. Average size crop of black currants. Beans ok but could have been a bit more prolific. Beetroot .
Not good: raspberries I planted new canes, out of 12 only 2 survived. Courgettes. Planted about 5, 2 died ( they were overcrowded), only 1 really productive plant.
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A very odd year. The cold snap in May stunted my chillies and pumkpins and they never fully recovered, yet my tomatoes we're terrifically productive. Great sweetcorn, dire carrots. One excellent marrow, which has lent itself to a rum brewing experiment that's nearly ready for bottling (I sampled it and it's delicious :) )
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My year was nothing to write home about. On the allotment my potatoes ( Sarpo Blue Danube and Golden Wonder ) did not crop as well as expected and as Jaydig said above, when trying to boil either variety, the just blew. They were OK in the oven though. Onions, Japenese Senshyu Yellow were excellent as were the shallots, Red Sun. Garlic performed well as did the cabbage and swede. Good crop of gooseberries and rhubarb.
In the garden I had a poor crop of shallots, Golden Gourmer but my Exhibition onions were superb. Grew squash, tromboncino up a trellis and that produced some really long and heavy fruits, more than we could eat, so now we have loads of jars of chutney and several jars of squash, orange and ginger jam. Also tried pumpkin Marina Di Choggia. One plant, two pumpkins. Outdoor tomato Mountain Magic excellent, in the polytunnel, not so good. In the greenhouse, chillies and sweet peppers ok. Runner beans produced so many I was giving them to my neighbours but when I got back from a week in North Wales they had gone stringy and so all ended up on the compost heap.
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June is always the key month for the 'summer stuff', and this year it was mostly cool and dull until the short, sudden heatwave at the end.
Oh, boy. That thing killed me for over a month. My first year of growing and what better way of showing me what the definition of "bolting" is, than having it happen front and center in real time. I can laugh now. No, seriously! :lol: ???
My apologies. Wall of text. Genuine excitement at my first year. Again, apologies.
So this is Christmas, and what have we d... sorry. Wrong start. :wub:
So this was my virgin year for trying to grow my own crops. It was glorious fun, with a few disasters, one particular ongoing war (slugged it out), and yet a (for my first try at least) enjoyable yield. My main problem was that I started way too late. But once the bug hit me, I wanted to try a lot of things, just for the learning experience.
At roughly the end of May, I decided I wanted to grow my own bok choi. I love my stir-fries, and was unimpressed by what the supermarkets sometimes offer. I went online and found a oriental stir-fry and salad seed collection. So I tried all six. Mizuna was one, and has been a stunning revelation to me. Lovely salad mix and I'm still harvesting the last batch from the greenhouse this week. Wow, does that grow fast!
A few different types of spinach have kept me happy. Plenty of spring onions and garilc chives... yum, yum. I went mental for mung, adzuki, kidney and dwarf beans. The adzuki and mung didn't do so well (again, I started too late) but got enough of a yield to encourage me next year. I only chose those beans because I wanted to experience the romanza of drying and storing. So, prolong my experimental/enjoyment process.
I was introduced to the notion of bolting, which ruined a lot of my initial batches of lettuce, but come October, I was learning what to plant and when. Some fine mini crops of komatsuna, tatsoi yukina (again, still harvesting the last greenhouse crop). Had fun with radish, beetroot and my first attempts at preserving and pickling. I grew sweetcorn just because I love the shape and texture of the leaves and multiple layers. They were missing a month or so to reach the edible stage, but I didn't care. I enjoyed them as others may enjoy the whole flower beds thing. Next year I'm looking towards the three sisters plan, so they will have more purpose.
Does anyone grow any type of corn as an ornimental? Or is it just me being mental? :wacko:
I was bitten by the bug so bad I wanted to have a go at all the things that are aesthetically pleasing to me... cactus, palms, bonsai... I bought a mini fridge for stratification, a few heat mats and some lights. Luckily the greenhouse was already there when I moved in, but had to spend a little to fix a few panes of glass and replace one of those "turney, turney things" that (painfully) slowly opens one of the windows in the roof. :(
All in all, I think my first year of experimenting with growing my own vegetables, and the trying out of other things has cost me close to £400. Sure, a lot of that was initial purchasing of pots, containers, seeds, tools (how much for a half decent pair of secateurs?), bags of potting compost, pickling jars etc... and stuff for indoor propagation... but I genuinely feel like it has been money worth spent for the future. Next year (hopefully) will not cost me much more than £15.
I didn't even get to my new found love of micro greens, chili plants (a main focus for next year) succulents and lithops, but this is a wall of words already. I'm just honestly very excited for next weekend, where I get to wash my greenhouse down, haha... Please, don't ruin it for me. I know it may become a chore very quickly, so let me enjoy these naive times to their fullest. There's that old saying that is something along the lines of "why wake a person from a deep and untroubled sleep, just to deliver bad news?". Be gentle with me. You can ease me down into reality next year. :)
Regards
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I'm still very much in the early stages of learning, so my failures (and successes!) are still very much related to my inexperience as much as conditions.
Successes
Tomatoes - these did really well - all outdoor, until they were decimated by blight :( Managed to ripen quite a few at home.
Dwarf French Beans -a great crop from not many plants.
Cucumbers - really good, all outdoor.
Squash etc - Turks Turban, Courgettes, Patty Pan, Trombocino, Crookneck, Scallop all much better than last year - I put a fair bit of manure pre-planting.
Onions - grew well and much better than previous year - planted spring vs autumn previous year
Potatoes seemed ok but I don't really have anything to compare them to.
Poor
Peas - had a decent crop from the first sowings but following sowings seemed to be affected by something and reduced crops
Strawberries - just planted this year, and I don't think I did a great job, but they seem to have grown well now, so hopeful for next year.
Garlic - didn't split - planted in spring - have planted in November this year.
Carrots - forgot to plant them again :ohmy:
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I got some lovely beetroot this year and a good crop of mixed oriental leaves (I saved some seeds so fingers crossed for next year) Runner beans were also good.
Carrots were poor despite me buying expensive mixed coloured seeds, poor germination rate, some I flooded and the seeds moved out of the rows, lots of carrot fly. Will grow again just for carrot top pesto and to use up the packets.
Poor oca crop, a lunch box of small tubers out of 4 plants. They were mulched with hemp insulation and I should have given them some compost. They really aren’t worth the space apart from they look so pretty.
Garlic I forgot to water as they were in the flower border so they died. (Now I remember we did have some dry weather!)