Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Duke Ellington on October 02, 2011, 13:23:48
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Aubergine!!!
Its my third year of trying. This year I managed to grow just one aubergine which was about the size of an egg :-X
Its not worth it :'(
Duke
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Tomatoes...... :o...only joking.. :-X ;D...like I could not grow any.. ::)
Its celery...can't stand it..and just about anything else will do. I didn't grow this year any parsnips..but I might grow some next year again...I just never eat them all and you cannot just grow odd few..well its difficult..
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Tomatoes - fed up with blight etc & I really wont miss growing them at all....going to use the allotment space gained to grow more varieties of winter squash x jane
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for some reason my beetroot were rubbish this year - I am usually knee-deep in them!
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Peas. I just can't get a tune out of the buggers. So I'm giving up. ???
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Chard bright lights looks stunning tastes horrible it just wasn't for me :-\
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Chickens love it ;D.
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Grew turnips this year for the first time. Will not be growing them ever again. The swede wasn't too good either so they could well be a no no
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Courgettes, why bother when I always get offered more than I could ever possibly want!
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Thanks grannyjanny perfect excuse to get some chooks ;D then I can still grow the pretty chard and I wont have to eat it ;D
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I didn't grow any swedes this year and won't next year either. I had a bumper crop last year and am still eating them.
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No more celariac - I just dont have the knack.
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Aubergines - I never get a good crop [except for the first year!] and they take up too much space in the greenhouse.
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Carrots.
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leeks :'( I love them and use loads but the damm leek moth has won. It even got through enviromesh without holes and the edges buried.
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Oh that's sad :( :( :( at moment we do not get that- I hope it stays that way
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Probably Aubergines but I'm a stubborn so and so and may give it one more year.
Peppers are another one I may give a miss.
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Caulifowers- I did succeed for the first time this year, but only on a very small scale.
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Not a veg, a fruit: melon! However stupidly I keep trying and trying ....
and next year I will have probably forgotten my decision not to grow the things again
Sad or what ;D
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melons, too ;D
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"Crystal Lemon" cucumber. It was prickly, small and fiddly.
The taste was OK but growing in the greenhouse is easy and the results better. I grew Crystal Lemon more for interest than anything. It wasn't that interesting. ::) ;D All those sharp little pointed bits meant I had to peel it first so it wasn't quite the thing to drop in a lunchbox after all..
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Aubergine!!!
Its my third year of trying. This year I managed to grow just one aubergine which was about the size of an egg :-X
Its not worth it :'(
Duke
Agreed... it's not been that bad a summer, I'm drwoning in tomatoes and the peppers and chillis have done well... I had six aubergine plants across 3 varieties and not a single fruit... and i'm not that fond of them anyway.....
chrisc
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I advise ( humbly of course) that you all grow everything next year, because next year
IT WILL ALL GROW BETTER!
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Do I ever need to plant courgette seeds ever again ??? ;D
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id like to say we wont be trying aubergines again,or water melons,but being as stubborn as are im sure we will!esp as we still got plenty of seeds.Im also bouyed by the great results I had with parsnips this year(first good year) so will take that as encouragement!
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caulis, calibrese and PFB-all rubbish!
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Celery for me, I did not realise it was hard to grow, bought the plants on eBay, they have gone very pale and limp and when I checked for pests on google it appears they have 20 to 30 of the blighters! What is the point! ......
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I advise ( humbly of course) that you all grow everything next year, because next year
IT WILL ALL GROW BETTER!
good luck one and all!heres to a brill 2012!
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Beetroot - I still have 8 jars from 2010 and did another 4 from a poor crop this year...
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French beans
The runner beans harvested early are so superior that the french beans are a waste of time.
I know a lot of people think runner beans are stringy but that is because they leave them too long.
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Beetroot - I still have 8 jars from 2010 and did another 4 from a poor crop this year...
I think if I could only grow one thing outside I would choose beetroot. It is so sweet we really look forward to it each year. Cold with salads or hot with a main meal it is wonderful.
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May I suggest to the aubergine naysayers that you grow them in 10 litre pots on staging in the greenhouse. I get 5 or 6 supernarket sized fruits per plant that way. I've always found it the most reliable greenhouse crop I grow.
Mine for several years has been runner beans. I got fed up of hawking hundredweights around the neighbourhood in an effort to use them up. i think every freezer for miles around gets filled. Now I simply use someone else's surplus up instead .
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Spring Onions!! They were fine last year but this year ...... all I got was spindly looking grass which then flopped over and gave up!
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Definitely no more aubergines. One on staging in GH and two on south-facing terrace in pots. Sowed seed in early January indoors, nursed them into healthy plants and what did I get? Nothing!
Tricia
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Carrots. Once again a complete failure. From 3 sowings I have dug up only now little weedy things that look like thinnings :( So That's it now, I will use the space for something else and buy a few carrots from the market when I need to.
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We haven't exactly got a "never again" veg as a result of this year (although a few from poor experiences in previous years!) but we've decided to phase out our autumn raspberries in favour of summer fruiting ones. The taste just isn't as delectable.
We're also going to grow more of the tomatoes that we know will prosper and that we enjoy, and fewer exotic varieties that inevitably fail. Also we'll be avoiding anything described by a certain well-known seedsman as "the sweetest, most flavourful, and most prolific" tomato ever created. ;D
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May I suggest to the aubergine naysayers that you grow them in 10 litre pots on staging in the greenhouse. I get 5 or 6 supernarket sized fruits per plant that way. I've always found it the most reliable greenhouse crop I grow.
Mine for several years has been runner beans. I got fed up of hawking hundredweights around the neighbourhood in an effort to use them up. i think every freezer for miles around gets filled. Now I simply use someone else's surplus up instead .
I tried that with the aubergines,and some in the ground inside too,plants grew well,flowered,no fruit,will try again!
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Broad beans. Why? Because I grow them, look after them, pick them, cook them, serve them and then scrape them off the plates, and bin them!! We all hate them !!!! ;D ;D ;D
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onions :(
we've got white rot,we tried a few in a raised bed and they still got it.
We're are going to try the "garlic tea" thing where you water the bed in the spring to kid the white rot to germinate but as it's only "tea" it dies without a host to live on.
Well that's the plan anyway but what is "the best laid plans..." :-\
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I've already given up on main crop spuds and now just concentrate on second earlies. Now I have the polytunnel I am not going to grow tomatoes outdoors, this is the second year I have had a complete blight wipeout :'(
Also wondering if peas are worth the effort but then I remember how fabulous just podded peas taste and will keep up the war on mice and hot, dry springs ;D
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Broad beans. Why? Because I grow them, look after them, pick them, cook them, serve them and then scrape them off the plates, and bin them!! We all hate them !!!! ;D ;D
;D Same here with squash/pumpkin. There simply aren't enough ways to fool them into thinking it's somehow become tasty...
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Another vote for broad beans. I feel like I am kicking out a family member, though ;) The smell of the flowers in spring, the first tiny pods...
However, I am the only one of the four of us who likes broad beans. And if I am brutal, there are actually many other veg I enjoy far more than broadies myself.
This year my solution was to grow crimson-flowered and regard them as ornamentals - but their yield was actually impressive. I probably have 2 year's worth for me in the freezer. So next year I plan to harden my heart and give their space to shelling french beans instead.
Can you tell I am trying to convince myself? I am itching to sow some aquadulce. I will be strong, I will be strong ...
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The entire Solanaceae family except for potatoes (and possibly chillis). This is the season I officially give up on efforts to grow peppers, aubergines and tomatoes. Without a greenhouse or polytunnel, and in spite of pampering them beyond reason this final year, I have no aubergines, a thin and tasteless pepper or two, and completely blighted tomatoes.
It will save weeks of struggling to bring up healthy seedlings inside the house, and hours of planting out and feeding and watering in huge pots in sunny, sheltered corners; I'm just wiping out the whole family.
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The entire Solanaceae family except for potatoes (and possibly chillis). This is the season I officially give up on efforts to grow peppers, aubergines and tomatoes. Without a greenhouse or polytunnel, and in spite of pampering them beyond reason this final year, I have no aubergines, a thin and tasteless pepper or two, and completely blighted tomatoes.
I'm just wiping out the whole family.
Maybe you could overwinter the peppers as house plants and get an earlier start next year. But it doesn't always work and I'd hate to recommend something that causes more work and isn't guaranteed. However, it often works for me.
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I said leeks in an earlier post but some of the posts have really got me thinking about effort/reward and cost/reward
If truth be told then there are more than just leeks that I won`t be growing
thinly sliced or spiralised courgettes were great in salads and my cucumbers were dismal, only 2 tiny fruits. Cucs are out because we liked the courgettes so much . Cucs in planters not worth the effort
Peppers are just reddening now and are hardly worth the cost and effort in planters, so they are out
Aubergines were fruitful. I only grew them because I was given seeds. I don`t like them and they were a potch to keep watered. They are out
French beans were no where near as nice as the runners, they will be gone
Maincrop potatoes, cara are mushy and have too many holes. They are gone. 1st and 2 earlies only for me now
Tomatoes under cover were good and worry free. Those outdoors I fretted over re blight. outdoor ones are gone
rocket and spinach bolted. They are gone
I have beautiful cabbages but they are huge, I have to cook cabbage every day for a week when I cut one. Big cabbages are out and small ones in
kohl rabi, didn`t like after the first few. They are are out
Now someone help me to stay focused when the seed catalogues arrive
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broad beans for me as well.
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I have no aubergines, a thin and tasteless pepper or two, and completely blighted tomatoes.
It will save weeks of struggling to bring up healthy seedlings inside the house, and hours of planting out and feeding and watering in huge pots in sunny, sheltered corners; I'm just wiping out the whole family.
I gave up a few years back attempting to grow tomatoes outside. I had just one absolutely brilliant year and every one after that hopeless - blight got them first.
In a greenhouse fine . :) .......or maybe in a sheltered spot away from wafting spores in a home garden patch you might stand a chance. ;)
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Well it has to be leeks. I was not going to bother but someone gave me some plants and they did very well but then suddenly drooped. Moth. Yuck. Total wipeout all over the site.
Nearly gave up on Tomatoes but they have been brilliant this year very late but now dripping off. Beetroot has been a failure but everyone else around has brilliant ones.
Chard has to go too.
PSB is on a second chance all failed over last winter. I have plans to keep it out of the wind. And the clouds of white fly do need a home. ;D
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;D lol re the clouds of whitefly needing a home...they drive me crazy & always make me want to give up growing anything that they hang around but then my lotty would be very empty,lol
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Thought I was the only person who hates broadbeans...good to know Im not alone after all x jane
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I brushed past my PSB and did not watch what I was doing and breathed them in and nearly choked. Never seen so many in my life before.
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My failure to grow melons over the past 5 years has been well documented....after the disastrous optimistically named 'melon pit' experiment this year I think it is time to call it a day! ::)
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Pentland Crown potatoes.....although they were a massive cropper....they are full of rust!
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Aubergines - just not worth the effort. Out of eight plants I ended up with six aubergines in total, 2 of which were green rather than the dark purple/black they were supposed to be.
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Marrows for me.Just dont know what to do with them.
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Marrows for me.Just dont know what to do with them.
Irish marrow chutney - recipe on here somewhere - if you need me to find it. Blends to make a brown sauce :D
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Along with others its maincrop potatoes for me..,most of mine attacked by slugs and worms
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WEEDS. :D
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WEEDS. :D
Oh if only ;D
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WEEDS. :D
;D Great answer!!
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ROFL ;D at weeds....in my dreams x jane
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Pak Choi. Grew beautifully then turned my back and they had flowered. Perhaps didn't realise how quickly they would be ready and wasn't prepared with a recipe. Hope they are composting well...
Was also tempted to say spinach as we don't really like it except in a curry. However, the chickens really love it so perhaps one plant next year.
Oh - and parsley. Took over half a raised bed and we had more in a herb garden. Had parsely growing out of our ears - you live and learn...
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Sweetcorn its not always warm enough here in the north east to get a decent crop.
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All the kohl crops- too many cabbage whites to deal with. Every year I've tried one or another crop with same results. Too bad because the huge cabbage leaves look so great in a garden I'd grow them just for looks ;D
But with old age I'm getting more content just growing what wants to grow here.
Also will be growing less quantity of vegies and putting in more pretty flowers and EX-PAN-DING FIG TREE collection.
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Probably Aubergines but I'm a stubborn so and so and may give it one more year.
Peppers are another one I may give a miss.
Exactly the same for me and will most likely try one more time.
Mind it does seem one year's poor cropping of something moves around to something else the next year.
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All brassicas except cauliflowers. Not keen on using chemicals and the white fly are unbearable.
My caulis are too large and tasty to give up though!
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deff no more nasturtiums as they took over our bean racks and throttled the growth of the beans up the
canes.....live and learn.
Gazza
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Have to add another one - brussel sprouts will be going as well as aubergines. Some people on our site can grow them and others can't - and I am one of those!
And I am getting fed up of inhaling whitefly every time I walk past!
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Witkiem broad beans. They were tough and tasteless. Masterpiece Green Longpod and others were Ok.
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deff no more nasturtiums as they took over our bean racks and throttled the growth of the beans up the
canes.....live and learn.
Gazza
Grow variagated ones they are weaker, pull the rabblers and only allow compact plants to set seed.
Maincrop potatoes, bl++dy slugs.
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Radishes!
Two radishes are more than enough for a year! I certainly can't eat a row.
I'll do courgettes again though - even if they are a bit of a nightmare to deal with! Mine are still cropping (albeit slowing down now) after more than four months!
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Sweetcorn, sadly, it's too hit and miss and I just don't have the space to waste!
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Patty Pan squashes - rather tasteless and a rubbery texture, or maybe I'm just not cooking them properly.
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Patty Pan squashes - rather tasteless and a rubbery texture, or maybe I'm just not cooking them properly.
They are lovely picked very young, steamed and eaten with melted butter, salt & pepper
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Sweetcorn its not always warm enough here in the north east to get a decent crop.
and the rats got ours last year!
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Ah, thanks, first time I've grown them, didn't know when to harvest. Maybe try again next year!
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I am going to grow same veg but different varieties and colours next year :) but one thing for sure is that I am going to only have 3 courgette plants ::) and No butternut squash complete failure... :'(
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Oh - and parsley. Took over half a raised bed and we had more in a herb garden. Had parsely growing out of our ears - you live and learn...
Wish I had your problem. I'm only getting one or two plants from seed for some reason and we plus the swallowtail butterflies really do like it so much. Next year I'm going to try planting a whole row as an edging in the flower bed. Maybe we'll get 4 plants that way ::)
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Have you tried germinating them on damp paper before sowing? I've always had good parsley since doing that - I put the seeds that develop roots into a pot of compost, and plant them out later. Before that I seldom had good parsley, and I do like it.
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My dad always sows the seeds and pours boiling water over them, and has done for years and hasn't failed him yet. I tried it this year and it worked a treat I have masses of parsely. :)
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Thank you for the ideas. I'll try both those methods next year. :)
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My dad always sows the seeds and pours boiling water over them, and has done for years and hasn't failed him yet. I tried it this year and it worked a treat I have masses of parsely. :)
I always sow in the propagator with the tomato seeds. They like a bit of warmth and come up fast. But in early September I thought I'd start a late batch to overwinter direct sown into the garden and those haven't appeared yet. I think they need 'something' extra to break dormancy and germinate. Should have known about the hot kettle a month ago ;D thanks Gadget
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I wouldn't bother with butternut squash either; it takes too long to set fruit. I nearly said I wouldn't grow Chinese artichokes again, but I was digging today where I had them last year, and found some good sized (for CA) roots. So maybe they aren't quite such a dead loss after all.
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Patty Pan squashes - rather tasteless and a rubbery texture, or maybe I'm just not cooking them properly.
The green ones I grew this year were not worth eating. I've grown yellow ones before and they were much nicer.
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My dad always sows the seeds and pours boiling water over them, and has done for years and hasn't failed him yet. I tried it this year and it worked a treat I have masses of parsely. :)
Do I have to plant the seeds and then go along the row with a kettle? I will have to take a flask to the lottie, but it is worth a try.
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My dad always sows the seeds and pours boiling water over them, and has done for years and hasn't failed him yet. I tried it this year and it worked a treat I have masses of parsley. :)
Do I have to plant the seeds and then go along the row with a kettle? I will have to take a flask to the lottie, but it is worth a try.
My father also maintains you should put boiling water over the seed. I grew a few pots full but, as far as I can remember, I poured the hot water on the soil and then sowed the seed.
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Thanks for reply. A flask it is. I might try 1/2 and1/2.
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Thanks for reply. A flask it is. I might try 1/2 and1/2.
Good luck! ;)
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Well, I won't be growing alliums, not through choice. . :(. . got white rot on the patch. Anyone got an idea what to do now? Cheers, Tony.
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Sweet potatoes :-\
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I won't be trying to grow in straw bales again, if that is relevant to the topic. It was not a disaster, and I have had quite a lot of courgettes and a nice pile of winter squashes from them.
But it was hard work keeping them watered and fertilised, and the harvest should have been bigger from about 24 plants.
Nevertheless, Phase B has started: thick newspaper spread over the ground beside the 12 bales - rotting straw dragged out of the bales and spread deeply across the whole area - buckets and sacks of own compost spread over the lot with more to come - and I now have a large new "no-dig" bed that I will keep filling up with compost over the winter, and use in the spring as a courgette and squash area again.
I am very pleased with the way the weeds have been suppressed and killed by the original newpaper, tarpaulin and the twelve bales.
I am also giving up on butternut squash and sweet potato.
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Potatoes maybe...tired of slug holes. I'll probably change my mind and plant some earlies.
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Well, I won't be growing alliums, not through choice. . :(. . got white rot on the patch. Anyone got an idea what to do now? Cheers, Tony.
Try watering affected areas with garlic water (powder or fresh garlic not sure about ratio) leave for this year. Should cause the white rot spores to 'germinate' and then starve ;D when they can't find any alliums. Repeat aplications may be needed.
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I obviously had beginners luck with Aubergines. I had heaps of them...and won first prize in our show with a matching pair....not my two huge ones though when I picked them one had a hole eaten in the back >:(
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Sweetcorn. Second year and they got blown over again. Planted about 12 and got 2 cobs. seeds cost a couple of quid if I recall so a Pound each :( There is a place on my way home from work that sells cobs for 25p so there is 8 for the same price - definite no brainer!! ::)
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I obviously had beginners luck with Aubergines. I had heaps of them...and won first prize in our show with a matching pair....not my two huge ones though when I picked them one had a hole eaten in the back >:(
Great! You'll please give us all a clue how you did it? and which variety?
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Brussel sprouts - ruined by white fly again!
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Strangely my veg is a fruit. Blackcurrants were eaten by the pigeons and now one has big bud so I'll grub them out and give them a miss for a while. Pity but too difficult without a proper fruit cage. Funny enough the[autumn] rasps were left alone..... ::)
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Brussel sprouts - ruined by white fly again!
I grew brussel sprouts just the once. Marble sized, full of fly and they took so long to tell me they couldn't be bothered (or, more like, I'd got it wrong ::)). Purple sprouting broccoli is my favourite replacement. :)
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Strangely my veg is a fruit. Blackcurrants were eaten by the pigeons and now one has big bud so I'll grub them out and give them a miss for a while. Pity but too difficult without a proper fruit cage. Funny enough the[autumn] rasps were left alone..... ::)
Pigeons love currants, you have to net them. You can pick off the big buds and burn them if it's only a light infestation; if it's bad, cut the lot down to ground level and burn it all.
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Sweetcorn. Year 1 - rained off, year 2 - stunted and cobs not formed, year 3, wonderful cobs, due for picking later that week. Squirrels or rats got THE WHOLE LOT. That's right, each cob, leaves, silk and all. Each succulent tiny little yellow grain .....gone. I am as devasted as my sweetcorn, and I will never grow them again.
Caro
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Sweetcorn. Year 1 - rained off, year 2 - stunted and cobs not formed, year 3, wonderful cobs, due for picking later that week. Squirrels or rats got THE WHOLE LOT. That's right, each cob, leaves, silk and all. Each succulent tiny little yellow grain .....gone. I am as devasted as my sweetcorn, and I will never grow them again.
Caro
Really sorry to hear that especially after 3 years waiting for a good crop. I can imagine exactly how you feel. :(
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I'm giving up on celery. I just dont have the time to water it as much as it needs and although it appears to grow well the stalks are just too stringy even for cooking.