[Fairy Plotmother]

Not grown them, but heard other people saying they would not bother growing again:

Cucamelon

and what about Tomtato - anyone grown that, and would you grow it again?

A neighbour gave me a cucamelon plant. It had loads of fruit, but it can't find anyone who likes it. So won't be bothering with that again

[Kristen]

Anything that doesn't taste nicer than supermarket stuff, so maincrop potatoes, onions?.

I've held that view for a while .. shifting camps now though.  We are trying to decide if we are bothered what farmers put on such crops (the ones we choose not to grow because they are cheap / farmers store them better than we do with their cold stores etc.)

Take Potatoes for example.  Haulms are removed in the UK (I believe) with Acid.  Sounds OK to me, but a couple of years ago when we had a really wet summer the Spuds sold at the Farm Gate locally turned out to have actually been imported. It appears that in most parts of the world, outside the EU, Gramoxone (banned in the EU) is still used for that purpose.  Not sure I am happy to have that (and stuff like it) on my food.

We don't fret, specifically, about what is used on our food - we don't deliberately shop for Organic - but we do think that we might try to AIM to grow all vegetables that we eat (probably not 100% during the Hungry Gap, and for sure we will still buy Bananas and extend the Strawberry season a bit and so on ...)

[devonbarmygardener]

Sweet bell peppers.
I always overstuff my greenhouse and the cattypiddlers that liked my peppers, also liked my aubs and destroyed pretty much the entire crop

[Headgardener22]

"Take Potatoes for example.  Haulms are removed in the UK (I believe) with Acid."

My problem with Maincrop potatoes is that there's so much blight on our allotment that the only maincrop that grow successfully are Sarpo and they don't taste as nice as supermarket ones (and it kills off my tomatoes which are worthwhile growing coz they taste better than shop bought). Also have to spend time picking over the stored potatoes making sure they haven't got blight in store and so gone manky.

Just my opinion - I grow early potatoes because they taste better.

[BabbyAnn]

celery - far too much faffing about and I don't like the taste very much - apart from in casseroles 

have you tried self blanching types?  The soil must be fertile so add lots of compost/manure and mulching helps to retain moisture - then the only faffing to do is keep them well watered throughout the growing year.  I find the celery stalks can be diced and frozen (no other preparation) and just take out what you need for soups & stews.  Golden and Red Soup were very easy to grow and can highly recommend.

Peas - apart from one row to eat while standing on the plot which is just wonderful.  Otherwise, too much podding - they won't wait for you - you have to pick them when perfect and they take ages to pod to freeze.

I don't grow peas for much the same reason.  Try growing a sweet sugar snap or mange tout instead - I can recommend Sugar Ann or Oregon Sugar but I'm sure there are others.  No podding involved.  And if the peas get too big, leave them to fully mature and harvest for next year's seed instead of buying them.

Dwarf variety crops do my back in - unless I can pull the plant out of the ground (such as dwarf borlotti beans when the beans rattle in the pods), bending down to pick green beans and fruits are too much trouble.  I'm very much for climbing plants now.

I like the idea of picking fresh veggies for dinner but I simply don't have the time to get organised and often they spoil before I'm ready, or after a heavy session on the plot am too tired or don't have the time to deal with them and then feel they've gone past their best to freeze and often end up on the compost heap - such a waste.  More often, lots of things seem to be ready to be dealt with all at the same time putting me in a right quandary.  So now I shift a lot of my crops to things that don't need immediate attention or can be stored such as garlic, onions, potatoes (not maincrop for the same reason as Headgardener), winter squashes, beans (as in seed), or left in the ground over winter such as the brassicas.  It's all about what's right for your circumstances. 

[Kristen]

Just my opinion - I grow early potatoes because they taste better.

Yes, we grow Earlies for the excellent flavour and Pink Fir Apple 'coz we like them too, and they mature early enough that we can lift them to use from August onwards (and they store well).

I used to grow maincrop (I've mostly only got farmer fields around me, and they are Wheat, Sugar Beet and Rape, so no Blight nearby), but I decided it was way too much hassle - the stored tubers were mostly all sprouting by Crimbles ...

But the "what chemicals are on my food" provenance issue is causing me to rethink.

We don't eat a lot of spuds, so I wouldn't need a huge amount ... good excuse to have a cold store though, get a couple of bags of spuds in there and a couple of dozen crates of beer?

[AlaninCarlisle]

Peas, cabbage, sprouts and cauliflower (shredded by wood pigeons), cabbage (caterpillars), lettuce (known as rabbit food in our house), kohl rabbi (tasteless), potatoes (too many lost to blight) and dwarf beans (too unproductive to be bothered with).

Stuff I can't grow enough of as the family love themincludes broad-beans, French beans, runner beans, tomatoes of all heritage types, cucumbers, sweet corn, broccoli, all types of beetroot, celeriac, sweet and chillie peppers, rhubarb, all fruits - soft and hard, onions, parsnip, leeks, spring onions, rocket, carrots and celery

[pigguns]

1. Celeriac (slugs chomped through the lot)
2. butternut squash (too pesky)
3. Aubergines- fussy divas; I waited since 26th dec for one beautiful small fruit! (although pretty plant, granted)
4. weeds.  Pain in the neck 

[Baldy]

Ah... I've also decided not to bother with main crop potatoes next year - too many issues with them and they take up a lot of space. Furthermore, I have decided not to bother with tomatoes on the plot - just grow them at home - they need too much attention and I'm not at the plot often enough... what what...

Cheers,
Balders

[Steveharford]

1.Carrots...again...unless I can get my backside into gear and provide them with proper carrotfly protection. 2. Lettuce as we dont really eat much typically british salad but I do like it in a salad sandwich. As we probably only use two a year then it makes sense to buy them. 3. Rocket. Even less used than lettuce. Cant see the point of it. 4. French beans. Tasteless.

[devonbarmygardener]

Oh and caulis - can't be bothered with the fussy darn things!!

[Elaine G]

1. Cucamelon - tasted nasty!!

2. Cabbage - I had a dozen this year but the growing tips of all of them got eaten out. Always happens. Shame as it would be a good winter crop, if only they made it to spring 

[Beetroot Queen]

Gerkins yuck

[8doubles]

Another vote for Aubergines aka Snozzcumber 

[bravemurphy]

Another vote for Aubergines aka Snozzcumber 

Got my vote too.