[AlaninCarlisle]

I've made some mistakes in my gardening life but two that I'll never, ever repeat are to grow bush tomatoes and Oca in my polytunnel. Four tomato plants have virtually taken over a bed about ten feet by five feet and that end of the tunnel is a maze of canes and string with the plants now at ten feet high.

As for the Oca, I've no idea as to what harvest I might eventually get but the foliage is on a total invasion of space and has covered the paths so I can't help but walk on the stuff.

Next year, if I keep them (and that depends on how tasty they are), the oca will be grown outside and it's back to plain old cordon varieties of tomatoes like Shirley and Alicante grown like the nurseries do with two plants to a gro-bag. To hell with the so-called heritage bush varieties

What have other members learned this year?

[mattwragg94]

Not to do square foot gardening - it works for some, but not for me im affraid!

Oh and like you grow less toms, to to give them better space.

But generally to give plants more space and not to cram everything in!

[Willow_Warren]

I will not grown and plant our 4 courgette plants again...

Lots of other things I'm sure, mainly due to timings and numbers to modify from this year!

Hannah

[AlaninCarlisle]

I will not grown and plant our 4 courgette plants again...
Hannah

I will not grow TWO courgettes next year . After a very slow start they're fruiting like wild things and my kids dread coming to see us because, along with all the runner beans, peas and onions, they get a couple forced on them after every visit

[Mrs Bee]

I will not grown and plant our 4 courgette plants again...
Hannah

I will not grow TWO courgettes next year . After a very slow start they're fruiting like wild things and my kids dread coming to see us because, along with all the runner beans, peas and onions, they get a couple forced on them after every visit

You tell them that its harder where there is none, as my Gran used to say. 
I have courgette plants and jars and jars of piccalilli and various chutneys. No one runs away from me with these as Christmas presents.

[AlaninCarlisle]

The thing I've really overdone this year after everyone raved about it last year is Chiogga beetroot. I've got two outdoor rows, a large outdoor container with a couple of dozen in and two short rows in the polytunnel. I'm heartily sick and tired of it. Can I turn it into biofuel or make wine from it?

[Madame Cholet]

cutting grass paths with shears, fortunately I've got some wood chips arriving this week hurrah.

[Plottered]

I'll second the bush tomato plants....triffids in the making

[Mrs Bee]

The thing I've really overdone this year after everyone raved about it last year is Chiogga beetroot. I've got two outdoor rows, a large outdoor container with a couple of dozen in and two short rows in the polytunnel. I'm heartily sick and tired of it. Can I turn it into biofuel or make wine from it?

 
You can make it into wine we did many years ago when OH made wine.
You can also make glorious chutney, pickle it for Christmas presents and make a lovely vegetable dish with red cabbage or beetrrot and chocolate cake.

We can't get enough of it. ALthough it does has funny side effects

[Kirpi]

1. Not to plant beans in with the sweetcorn to fix nitrogen for the sweetcorn because it doesn't until the beans are hoed off and the sweetcorn suffer for it.

2. Feed the sweetcorn bed with loads of compost - they are hungry plants.

3. Two courgette plants at the most; not four.

4. Not so many potatoes - we don't eat that many.

5. More tomato plants - because they are more expensive to buy.

6. Stagger the Swede plantings more so I don't end up with a load of giants at the end of the year.

[Debbie D]

Not to grow as many tomato plants 27 is too many when only 1 person actually likes tomatoes.
Not to bother growing turnips again- they look pretty, grow really well but we don't like the taste of them.
Label things properly, I have a bed full of squashes/pumpkins and don't know what the heck they are.
But that's part of the fun of growing your own; making mistakes, learning from them and then making different ones next year.

[Wellpotty1]

Hmmm, well reading through these posts, I may next year be planting a lot less courgettes, so far have only harvested one...
but...I planted about half the packet with the idea to reduce the weeds around the 12 sweetcorn & also the 3 sisters idea (although the beans had already been planted elsewhere).
I think that at least 8 of them are growing well & have flowers if not fruits  time will tell how many recipes I need to find!

[surbie100]

Things I definitely will do that I didn't this year:

1) space things out properly

2) try and figure out succession planting so everything isn't ready at the same time!

3) write down what seeds I have already before browsing through seed catalogues!

[symonep]

Things I definitely will do that I didn't this year:

1) space things out properly

2) try and figure out succession planting so everything isn't ready at the same time!

3) write down what seeds I have already before browsing through seed catalogues!

I could have written this! Planting carrots and the weeds got so much that we couldn't then thin them out  :blink:
We had exactly the same with strawberrys, onions, beans, courgettes all being ready at the same time!

[JayG]

Never again will I give my greenhouse cucumbers more care than everything else put together (being careless will probably have the same outcome but will save lots of time!)