Topic: Good and bad?

[peanuts]

As with most years, some things do well, and some things do badly, never the same, thankfully.  I'm wondering how everyone has found this year so far?  Here in SW France it has been a hotter and drier summer.  In UK quite a bit of rain, cold and wind I think. 
Bad things for me, in no particular order:
shallots - tiny
parsnips - never really got them germinated (unusual for me) so gave up
mid/late potatoes - shooting in the ground, and eaten by mole crickets
Chard - half went to seed in the heat
Sweetcorn, only managed to get half germinated, didn't water them enough, and now they are ripening and being eaten (by mice?)
Broccoli, kale, sprouts - planted out too small, sowed again, replanted and now struggling with flea beetle.  not sure they will survive
Peppers - plants not much bigger than when I planted them out early June
Runner beans - didn't set in the hot weather, now producing but much shorter pods than usual

Good things
Trébons onions (local variety summer large onion) - fantastic crop, will keep us going for several months
early potatoes - best for a long time
beetroot - good size
lettuce - best ever, and managing to have a succession of beautiful hearted Batavia all summer
Beans, French and climbing various - all growing well, so a success, but not producing so much as not been watered enough
Courgettes - loving the hot weather, three plants now enormous, have more than 10 growing points, so very difficult to make sure I pick them all
raspberries and blackberries - best crops for years
apples - really heavy crop, but not big, even having thinned them out.

[squeezyjohn]

Definitely along the same lines for me here in the UK:

Bad things:
Carrots (could hardly get any germination - and the ones which did have shown really slow growth as it's been so dry for long periods.
Parsnips - same as carrots
Broad beans - decimated by blackfly
Runners and french beans - slow to come up and then eaten by everything under the sun - followed by blackfly infestation
Potato onions - very small compared to last year
Kohl Rabi - small and woodier than usual - due to lack of water - will try an autumn sowing
Peppers - ditto - not much bigger than when I planted them out in June

Good things:
All potatoes with good crops and no problems
Sweetcorn looking like they're setting cobs well - very strong plants
Lettuce was abundant
Beetroots have done well except the golden ones which bolted
Courgettes, cucumbers, melons and squash are all happily growing well
Calabrese harvest was almost shop sized!
Garlic was good - although I lost a bit to white rot I managed to save most
All soft fruits are cropping heavily although a little later than usual
Apple trees are going bonkers with a huge crop.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've had mixed results with my shallots and potato onions. I lost almost all my shallots over winter, thanks to a bacterial rot. My red potato onions were almost wiped out by pigeons, but one small clump survived, so all isn't lost. White potato onions and Green Mountain are mediocre, but Yellow potato onions have produced some good sized bulbs. I've got flowers on yellow and white.

[maureen.alder.9]

Good
Parsnips seem to be growing well, also carrots                                                                                                                                         potatoes have done well but the athletes have some scab                                                                                                                           lettuce has done well                                                                                                                                                                           onions seem to be ok I lost quite a few last year to white rot                                                                                                               cucumbers in greenhouse are cropping well                                                                                                                                      peppers are doing well                                                                                                                                                                         
tomatoes lots on plants but still very green
leeks are growing well

Bad                                                                                                                                                                                                    beetroot not been able to get them above baby size, leaves are very healthy but nothing underneath this is the first time I have failed with them have tried in various parts of the allotment                                                                                                                                                                  runner beans are cropping well but a lot of blackfly which seems to be a common problem this year                                           strawberries did very well                                                                                                                                                             apple tree the fruit look ok but the leaves are all curling up not sure of the variety because I  inherited it on the allotment

so overall I suppose the good outweighs the bad as we always say will do better next year                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                           

[Digeroo]

It has been very dry here until the last weekend.  But we have had very cold early morning which have set things back.

Parsnips did not germinate but plot neighbour has fantastic looking plants.
First batch of carrots only a very few carrots but later batches particularly good
Runner and French beans very slow but plants now covered in flowers
Potatoes earlies excellent, main crops looking good
Onions very poor, plot neighbour magnificent ones
Courgettes slow to start but going well now.
Squash doing well watch this space hoping for a bumper crop, plot neighbour very poor covered in black fly.
Broad bean some very poor others bumper crop
Sweet corn just at the tassle stage plants look good
Red and black currants excellent, raspberries and strawberries poor but autumn raspberries huge
Golden beetroot ready for a thin out.

So yes a mixed bag, and it cannot be the weather because whatever is doing well or badly for me sometimes seem to be reversed with my plot neighbour only feet away.

[peanuts]

So interesting hearing of others' successes and near failures!  Have I ever had a year when everything grew brilliantly? I can't remember one, perhaps just as well.
Even more interesting when Digeroo's allotment neighbour has visibly different experiences and results.  It really makes you wonder why.  Growing stuff is never simple, often a challenge, but there are always joys to offset the failures, thankfully.

[sparrow]

It's a mixed year here too.

Broad beans were good, despite the amount of blackfly on them
Climbing, runner and dwarf beans have been very poor - really hit by blackfly/slugs, bar the ones I can't eat because they are for the HSL
Parsnips refused to germinate 3 times so now I don't have any
Carrots are problem-free
Beets are slow to bulk up but getting there
Spuds are great and ready early, though with lots of slug damage this year
Squashes, melons, cucumbers and courgettes are really slow in getting going
Tomatoes, currants, padron peppers, rhubarb, aubergines, raspberries are all fantastic