[JacsH]

It's been a funny old year in many respects and my main season of harvesting is already almost over. Looking back at my 'planting' books I've had a very different year from previous ones.
Did badly - apples/ears/plums: doubt apples will be sufficient to last until December this year (early June for last harvest), 2 plums from each of three trees: peas and broad beans although that was mainly due to an outrage of voles and mice (cats has 'not vole again' expressions on their faces most of the summer), strawberries - mice again, they like 'em green; chillies and sweet peppers did very well until mice found them - photo is one night's damage on the Cheyenne chillies!
About 1/4-1/3rd last year's crop: potatoes (41.5kg cf 175kg); tomatoes (15kg cf 75kg); blueberries (9.6kg cf 24.3kg). No wonder I neverhad time to do anything but bottle/freeze/jam/chutney last year!
As good as or better than last year: runner beans, onions, sweet corn (cobs not set as well but perfectly good); aubergines - an absolute glut from 6 plants and the one thing that's still going strong (photo of first picking 4 July, peeled picking 27 Aug - for brinjal pickle +4.5kg roast and frozen so far, not counting those bartered for eggs).
Don't know yet: parsnips (but very poor germination for once); carrots - good start but voles like carrot tops so mowed the lot down a couple of times, am guessing carrots not too big. Brassicas - the few plants that got going

What have your experiences been?

[Hungry Caterpillar]

It's been a strange year here too, things which usually do well for me have been poor and things which usually struggle have done well!

Had the best crops ever from my sweetcorn and onions, and also from the soft fruit, though that was expected as many of the plants were planted in the autumn of 2018.

Runner and French beans have really struggled here this year, and peas were late to get going as the seeds disappeared as fast as I could plant them!

Potatoes didn't like the dry spring, and then when they did get rain they got blight too    

My courgettes have been slow this year, I've almost been able to eat them as fast as they've grown!

Winter crops are mostly looking promising though, and there's far too many beetroot this year.

[mumofstig]

Have a look at this earlier thread where we discussed our successes and failures Saves me typing it all out again 

https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=132957.msg1537427#msg1537427

[jaydig]

Every year is different and has various successes and failures, mine are:
Onions - I grow mine from seed, and they all grew to a fantastic size, the larges being a Sweet Spanish Yellow which was 2lbs9oz when I weighed it ...BUT...... a lot of them went to seed this year as compared to only three or four last year. Watered well, but didn't like the extreme heat, I think.
Bramley cooking apples:  Only three on the tree last year, but around thirty kilos and counting this year!
Carrots, finally came good after three attempts at getting them to germinate, but despite keeping well watered a lot of them are strange shapes.
Radish - total waste of time, they went old before they had grown properly. Heat again, I think.
Squash:  Buffy Ball squash:  A small squash, very prolific, BUT:  Impossible to get through the rock hard shell, even after trying to bake them with shell on (after having punched some holes in case they exploded in the oven). Managed to get into one to be greeted with very little insipid flesh that tasted of nothing at all. One to avoid next year!
Dwarf beans cropped amazingly well, but runner beans went old very quickly

I work on the theory that if I grow enough of a variety there will always be something to pick and eat, so I don't get too disappointed over the failures - there's always next year.

[rowlandwells]

considering all things this year we can't really complain we had an exceptional year for or potato crops and plenty of runner and French beans that also goes for courgette and marrow pumpkin squashes had a good picking of kale some cabbage but cauliflowers parsnip broad beans all useless

tomatoes very good cucumbers very good plumbs also very good so all in all I'm satisfied i think we could have done a bit better with swede late sowing leeks not to bad not ready for picking yet onions yes very good for both sets and seed raised and salad onions

this is the fist year we grew green manure [mustard] very pleased with the results going to carry on growing green manure next year on a rotation basis but like all things with gardening you get your ups and downs

[Hampshire Hog]

Broad beans, Courgettes and tomatoes good, onions munched by rabbits, very poor
french beans and runner beans. Good asparagus though. Not really prepared ground as well as I should this year though due to family commitments in the winter and lock down of course. Hopefully do better next season!!

[PhilConnors]

the Good
Tomatoes for a change
Courgettes as ever
Cabbages have been superb
Chillis have been slow to get there but now really great

The Bad
Mixed bag around lettuce

The Ugly
Beans - after the first ones they really struggled to get a hold, weather to blame not me of course
Spinach, again, weather wasn't great for this

[wolveryeti]

Better than usual
- Courgettes: went totally mad but also turned from courgette to marrow in what seemed like hours
- Potatoes: nice yields of earlies and maincrop
- Sweetcorn: got some nice big cobs
- Brassicas: appreciated the wet cooler weather

So-so
- Broad beans: Delicious, but blackfly infestation hit yields
- Beetroot: A bit small but probably my fault for planting a bit late
- Carrots: About the same as last year. No carrot fly so far (touch wood)

Worse than usual
- Peas: Ravaged by pigeons 
- Fennel: Bolted
- Spinach: Bolted
- Tomatoes: Couldn't keep the blight off them - whole crop destroyed. 

[Subversive_plot]

My tomatoes did better than expected, and better than my last try at growing them. I credit providing lots of lime to our normally acid soil.

My various types of peppers (Serrano chili, sweet banana, cayenne, sweet bell) have all produced well. The bell peppers are doing better than usual, but still short of what I had hoped for in terms of yield. Sweet banana peppers are the best of the lot, followed by Serrano.

Most disappointing: butternut squash, specifically Butter Bush variety.  Squash borers got them all.

Okra: too soon to tell.

[Enfield Glen]

Weeds have done exceptionally well this year.

Runner Beans have been poor as has squash and Chard which went to seed

Onions small but good and a good crop of Toms before blight arrived.

[Russell Atterbury]

Everything in the polyhouse did very well, Chillies, Sweet Pepper, Basil, although many of the cherry tomato were annoyingly small, but all had a good taste. In the garden my 4 Zucchini went well, but i was expecting to have had more from them. Carrot good, Mooli i'm undecided on as yet. Climbing beans have been excellent and are still giving a few. Parsnip tops look very healthy. Chard is mind blowing the way it just keeps on. Onions good, Lettuce was OK, although only the one boring variety is available here. Only the winter squash was a no go, it didn't get above the first pair of true leaves, if it germinated at all.

[JayG]

With 'summer' more or less over before the summer crops were even planted out, it was always going to be a struggle here, especially as I was forced into re-using old compost in the greenhouse and mostly old seeds too.

Tomato yields well down, but not disastrously so, most crops later than normal (still waiting with fingers crossed for a few sweetcorn cobs!)
Great crop of La Diva cukes in the GH, despite them initially appearing desperate to die...

Runner beans probably worst affected by having to put up with all the things they don't like - dryness, strong winds, lack of sunshine, cold spells, and the worst infestation of blackfly I've ever had on runners.

Courgette glut as usual, and although the recent cooler weather stopped them in their tracks they look like delivering a few more before giving up.

Hard work getting two full rows of parsnips from old seed, but they look to be doing well now.

Leeks and Chantenay carrots under mesh looking pretty good at the moment.

[Christine]

Weeds have done exceptionally well this year.

So the compost bins are looking full 

[Tenhens]

Weeds have done exceptionally well this year.

So the compost bins are looking full 

Some relief that I wasn't the only one successfully growing them!!
Potatoes have been good so far.
Beetroot have been lovely sliced in sandwiches and have just tried them roasted 
French beans
Leeks and sprouts looking good

Onions very sad , cauliflower non starter and sweetcorn 1 cob and the rest I suspect fed badgers
There is always next year 

[Christine]

Apart from the weeds:
Summer cabbages, broad beans, peas, potatoes, lettuce, beetroot, spring onions, herbs all good. Swede small but good. Carrots good but I sowed too close in tubs and we are thinning as we go. Raspberries and plums to excess with apples and pears looking to be the same. Oh and the garlic came good. Didn't plant enough onions and the jackdaws kept pulling them up. Broccoli looks as if to be good in the future too.  Pumpkins did well though some smaller than they should be (soil not prepared well enough).