Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: rowlandwells on September 19, 2012, 19:04
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coming to the end of this gardening year the nights are drawing in and its getting much cooler at nights having to put a little heating on at night
on reflection how have you done this growing season because its pretty disappointing for most on our Lottie holders no one seems to have any decent brassicas i planted brassicas twice without any success although my plants are all bench grown it was a complete waste of time a bit of a mixed bag of what has actually done any good on the Lottie's this year its probably one of the werst seasons i have had on the Lottie since i started down there some thirty years :mad:
but maybe you have had better results than us depending on what part of the country you live have you achieved you goal this season on the Lottie despite the weather
i went down the Lottie to scuffle the ground and tidy up i was so surprised how hard the ground was i had to put weights on the scuffle to get it to go into the ground to get any depth of siol the ground seem to have got so wet and now its dried out like concrete >:(
ime looking to ploughing the ground soon to overwinter hopefully we may have a better 2013 season to have another go ???
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I'm in Northants too and have done well for a first season, not huge surplusses but enough for 2 of us, put it down to being on top of the hill and inheriting a plot which has been well worked. I'm eating french beans a few courgettes, onions spinach carrots and beetroot, plenty of that. Looking ok brussel sprouts, leeks, psb, j articjokes, kale, caulis, oca, winter radish, parsnips and perp spinach.
Going in soon wizzard beans ow onions, garlic and sorrel plants.
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well done cholet i take my hat off to you my plot is situated at the bottom of a hill and i had water standing on parts the Lottie that had never happened since i took the ground on many years ago :mellow:
i put loads of manure on the ground through the winter months ready for spring setting but all we had of the Lottie this year was a good crop of strawberries broad beans beetroot peas and at present picking a fair crop of raspberries :)
some of the veg you mention i don't grow anyway mainly just the bas sics my daughter who lives NR Wellingborough really had some good veg crops of her Lottie that she gave us and ime supposed to be the gardener learning her :ohmy:
not to be downhearted i have set 5 varieties of onion seeds in trays to overwinter so fingers crossed we get onions next year both spring and bulbing :unsure:
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To my surprise the season has only been 50% disaster though it hasn't felt like it most of the time. It's not the first disaster of a season I've had since I took the plot on in 2007 when the soil was so hammered it was fit to grow nothing.
At least I had crops growing and weeds weeded out when the inspection committee came round at the start of August and the hedges all cut. :D
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Bit up and down here in Essex,spuds were the worst for me as our allotment site was under 2 feet of flood water on 3 occasions this year and my first and second plantings of spuds rotted in the ground the third lot grew and bless my soul, :mad: we then got blight.
Had to re sow a few other things destroyed by the floods.
On the up side last Saturday was our local flower show,got 2 thirds 4 seconds and 11 firsts (including spuds under 225g) all in all enough to win most points in the veg classes and win the veg cup again :).
Not such a bad season but lots of extra work and a smaller than usual harvest.
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Potatoes poor, early brassicas poor but later ones ok, so far.
Peas were fine but runner & Frenchbeans started late and finished early.
Swede is showing how dry we are here atm, garlic was very rusty but bulbs were a fair size :) The leeks have moth of some kind so I've cut the tops off, hoping for them to regrow :(
Sweetcorn was late but a fair crop but the squash have a poor yield this year, inspite of barrow loads of manure ::
Tomatoes have struggled in the greenhouse but peppers were good! Don't mention aubergines :blink:
Strawberries were useless, but raspberries have been great :)
So a very mixed year, but not a complete failure either......................
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No aubergines, very poor tomatoes, great chilli and peppers.
So so potatoes, great runner beans & sweet peas.
No sweetcorn, great Broad beans
Good garlic crop, onions OK but not so big as last year.
Cauliflower rubbish as usual (but that is because I cannot grow them). Early carrot -rubbish
mid season - good, late season - rubbish.
No swede or turnip, direct sown parsnip - rubbish, pre-germinated - great.
No apples, great rhubarb, wonderful raspberries both summer and autumn. Poor gooseberry crop, poor black current, good red current. Dismal plums. Plenty of squash but on the small side
Very mixed bag this year
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Climbing French beans great, runners pretty poor, aubs good, toms (well, If I never see another one... ::)), overwinter onions good, garlic ok, squash not so good, courgettes poor, peppers good, cues good, most fruit not so good but first year so wasn't expecting much, PSB looks good but too much space needed for too long so will try calabrese next year... :)
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It has been a bit of a mixed bag this year on our plot.
PSB planted as small plants grown in 9 cm pots, were planted out in September last year and haven't produced anything at all - they are now 6 foot high and I am going to take them all out and compost them as I am sick of looking at them now!
On the plus side, we have had a good few kilo of runner beans, french beans, stacks of courgettes of every shape and size. We have also done well with chard, carrots, spinach, leeks, beetroot, turnips, radishes, strawberries, tomatoes, sweet peppers, chillis, mange tout, early potatoes, rhubarb, artichokes, onions, squash, mediocre sweetcorn, sprouts, raspberries, gooseberries, lettuce, cabbages and cauliflower.
Other negatives: blighted spuds so it was a small main crop, garlic were poor, shallots also poor; apples, plums, peaches, pears, cherries, aubergines all nonexistent.
Having said all this, I know that I had done better than others on our site.
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Potatoes a disaster, sweetcorn were ravaged by foxes or stolen, best pumpkin stolen. Tomatoes in greenhouse all rotted.
On the reverse, Beetroot was OK, Kale was great, French and runner beans are still going strong, peas good, over-run with peppers and cues, carrots good, pak choi still going strong, outdoor aubergines a success for the first time ever, outdoor beef steak tomatoes good. Chard, spinach, great results.
Courgettes ok but very few squashes. Apart from losing best pumpkin, others are now coming on well and have harvested quite a few small pumpkins.
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Good point's
Spud's
Garlic
Onion's
Cuke's (greenhouse)
Tom's (greenhouse)
Runner's
French bean's
Bad Point's
Carrot's (giving up after 3 year's)
Cauli's all bolted
strawberries
Broccoli all bolted
14 first's and a banksian medal to boot. Overall a v good year.
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Spuds have been a joy and a waste of growing space. Marfona which I had success with last year are full of wireworm and slugs, the sante just died off with all the rain. Kestrel have been brilliant. No holes from either slugs or wireworm. A good crop. Ambo maincrop have a few wireworm holes but the spuds are big enough to stand a little waste.
Peas have been a waste of growing space. I've since done a soil test and found it to be very acid so it's getting a dose of lime ready for next spring.
Two sowings of carrots have both failed. Onions sets survived but are smallish compared to last year, but they are now dried and safely in the shed. Rhubarb has been great. We've had plenty fresh and there is 24lbs in the freezer. Jerusalem Artichokes are a first timer for me and if the top growth is anything to go by I'll be breaking wind like a good 'un. :tongue2:
Cauliflower, Callabrese, Sprouts, and psb in the ground and coming on well. Spring and winter cabbage awaiting planting out. Sweet peppers have been cra.......... erm, rubbish.
At least I have managed to coax two cucumber plants to last a full season which is a first for me. :lol:
I just need to be better prepared for the glorious summer which we are going to have next year. ::)
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Had the plot since May.
Excellent:
Brassica's (Cabbage's, Kale, Brussel Sprouts)
French Beans
Squash
Swiss Chard - Sold 10lbs at market last week, order for another 10lbs this weekend coming.
Beetroot
Lettuce
Rhubarb - No harvest this year, but divided 1 giant rhubarb into 4 and they have all come back strong.
Asparagus - Strong first year of growth.
Poor / Hoed In:
Rocket - Cannot get the blasted stuff to grow.
Runner Beans - Hoed under after 6 weeks of sitting sadly doing nowt.
Tomatoes - Wayyyy too late starting off, one or two fruits MAY make maturity but unlikely.
Parsnips - Old seed? Never even germinated.
Peas - about 20 pea plants across 4 5m beds, all hoed under. Got very very weedy while I was on holiday, never stood a chance.
I grow on free draining fen soil, and it has been consistently dry for about the last 3 months. Today and Friday first days of proper rain for months. I have only had to weed every 2 weeks for the last 2 months (Luccckkkkkky!)
Rowan
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I think I've had a fairly good first year, all things considered. the lowlights have been:
Tomatoes were a disaster - the ones on the plot got blight, the ones on the balcony got botrytis
Spuds 50% rotted in the rain - but the Charlottes were brilliant
BNS - only 4 fruits, all very late after a summer of male flowers only
Peas - 1 pod, 2 peas....nuff said!
Everything else so far has been surprisingly good:
dwarf french beans, courgettes, cucumbers, kohlrabi, beets, carrots, chillies on the balcony, sorrel, chicory, strawbs, radishes and fennel. Though that last one bolted wholesale, but was still tasty.
Am looking forward to next year and seeing what happens to my psb, caulis, chard and swedes.
Hopefully I'll have 5 more beds and fruit bushes/trees to put in.
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Potatoes -
2 out of a row of 5 Rooster
none from Nadine, they just disappeared altogether,
about 5 from each Charlotte plant.
Courgettes and pumpkin (Jack be little)shrivelled and died.
Winter onions had to be lifted early, as they had no tops to turn over, so were small,
Maincrop onions (Turbo) the same but later.
Peas produced pods, and the sweet peas flowered, but never looked happy from the day they went out and turned yellow and died.
Wildflower bee bed full of dock and buttercups and one poppy.
Strawberries, small berries and poor quality.
Apples, what apples?
Runner beans and autumn rasps are producing now when it is almost too late
Sweetcorn cobs were small but delicious and better than the patchy pollination of last year.
Cabbages brilliant!
Rhubarb good.
The list goes on, but I'm depressed enough already
A great year if you like cabbage! My fifth year of allotment gardening and the worst one yet.
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A very patchy year but not as bad as it could have been considering the weather :D
Potatoes - brilliant (considering they were waterlogged for weeks on end)
Peas - planted too few
Beans - Brilliant in the PT/not so great outside
Brassica's - decimated by caterpillars but Kale, BS and PSB look to have survived and should give a good crop.
Onions - great crop. Not storing very well though
Garlic - miserable
Tomatoes, Cukes, Peppers and Chilli's - can't keep up with them, neighbours, friends and freezer all full to capacity!!!
Aubs & Squashes - only flowering now so nothing there.
Pumpkins and Courgette - good, no great glut but enough for the family and some frozen etc.
Carrots/Parsnips/Celary a complete no show despite multiple sowings.
Strawberries - lovely mmmmm and lots of them.
Gooseberries, Red & Black Currents, Blackberries, Autumn Rasp - brilliant crop and lots of jam
Dahlias, Glads, Sweetpea - Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant, the talk of the allotments :) :) :) - Thinking about taking on another half plot so that I can grow more next year! Have never tried showing anything but might be tempted into the Dahlia classes at next years local show ;)
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It's been my first year of growing...
Overall I'm happy with my results and planning more for next year - hopefully taking some of the learnings with me...
Hannah :)
I've had some kind of crop from almost everything I've grown, I think the only thing that I haven't cropped is my sweet peppers, but next year I am going to start them off earlier and hopefully (fingers crossed) perhaps secure a small greenhouse for them or hope for a warmer summer.
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It's been my first year of growing...
Overall I'm happy with my results and planning more for next year - hopefully taking some of the learnings with me...
Hannah :)
I've had some kind of crop from almost everything I've grown, I think the only thing that I haven't cropped is my sweet peppers, but next year I am going to start them off earlier and hopefully (fingers crossed) perhaps secure a small greenhouse for them or hope for a warmer summer.
had3 goes with peppers outside I think they need some protection in this part of the country
edited to fix quote
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Had my lotty for 3 seasons now and It's been my first tough year.
A mixture of good and bad, drove me mad :mad: at times, but looking back on it didn't do too bad :).
Cons
Slugs, lots of the little blighters - finally lost my zen and bought slug pellets.
Germination - In the past I've managed to sow seed in the ground, struggled.
Potatoes - Grew at strange rates (First earlies ready after main crop), got blight.
Chillies - Even in the greenhouse struggling to get them to ripen.
Tomatoes - Poor crop, outdoor ones blighted.
Brassicas didnt do well
Got cabbage white caterpillars for the first time.
Both plots either side of me in a state od disrepair so fighting weeds.
RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN
Pros
Been a great learning experience.
Didn't need to manually water anything outside.
Salvaged a half decent crop of taters (noticed blight early)
Grape plant has fruit :D
Strawberry bed established and fruited fairy well
Good crop of garlic, onions, leeks and shallots (all harvested early due to various reasons)
Good crop of cukes, lettuces.
Parsnips doing well
Pumpkins doing well, planted some saved seeds (cross polinated) from last year and got a lovely selection of marrows, courgettes and pumpkins
Decent corn harvest (once I got them going)
Managed to grow a (single) cauliflower, aubergine and water melons (although I suspect it wont ripen in time) for the first time.
Established a rhubarb plant.
Produced a decent quantity of compost and gave a talk to some school kids about the process (who all listened well and seemed to enjoy it).
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In the Greenhouse : Good
Cukes
Melons
Aubergines
Peppers
Chillies
Tomatoes
Bad: Watermelon - leaves kept dying back yet it's still growing but nothing pollinated.
Outside: Good
Squash/pumpkins
Sweet corn
Peas/beans
Parsnips
Potatoes
Garlic
All soft fruit.
Bad:
Tomatoes got blight
White onions rotted
Carrots sowed twice and not very many germinated.
A good year really despite the weather. X