is this year worst than last?

[ruffmeister]

well, we are trying to decide if crop wise this year is worse than last, because certain crops seem to be doing better and others are worse.

for instance our onions are doing much better than last year, however the carrots and parnsips are not doing so well.

do you think it is a case that some things prefer this weather to what we had last year, or is this year better or just worse than last. Or even what us as growers are doing?

whats your thoughts?

[ruffmeister]

[Tee Gee]

I would go further than that in my case!!

I would say it is my worst year ever and I have been gardening for more years than I can remember.

The only consolation I am getting from it is knowing that I am not alone with my problems.

[cornykev]

So far spuds are better, carrots are growing quicker, I've had about 5 finger carrot meals just by thinning out, but time will tell.  ;D ;D ;D

[Trevor_D]

I'm with Tee Gee on this one. I can't remember a year with more problems. (And I'm lucky enough not to have been flooded out.)

Yes, some things have bucked the trend. The potatoes are yielding well, despite the beginnings of blight. (Too well: they are huge, but don't have the flavour they ought to and the earlies have turned floury as a result.) The courgettes love this weather. The loganberries are prolific (but they are so damp they turn mouldy unless dealt with immediately). The peas are starting to do well.

But as for the rest....

[Mrs Ava]

For me, better!  I have no extra water on site so only water seed drills and newly planted plantlets.  Other than that, everything has to fend for itself.  Normally I have a small, but nice crop of small, but nice raspberries.  This year I have been picking huge juicy fruits for weeks now, pound after pound after pound.  I have frozen 6 pounds of them!!  Same with strawbs and gooseberries.  Spuds normally do okay, but we never have a bumper harvest to see us through the coming year, which means I plant a lot more than others perhaps would.....but this year the spuds we are digging are HUGE, and masses to every plant.  I am filling a carrier bag to the top from just 2 plants.  All of my seeds are now germinating within days, lettuces aren't bolting so are the size of basketballs, peas are fat and succulent and I have runner beans setting from the very bottom of the plants to the very top.  I know this rain has caused a lot of devastation, but my veggies were very grateful.  :-\

[OliveOil]

Much worse this year... last year although we had the drought our water table is right under our plots so nothing really suffered... thisyear has been a disaster - drought then flood then who knows????

[manicscousers]

we've had a wierd year for onions, the red baron autumn planted sets  went to seed, the white ones we planted at the same time were fine,
the spring planted ones from sets  are nearly ready and the seed sown ones from spring are now putting weight on
garlic from autumn and spring got rust but all have cloved so we've plenty drying now  :)
we've had cabbage the size of footballs, they're supposed to be greyhound,
and our spuds, main crop, are tremendous, even though we had to dig them early   :)

[Tulipa]

My parsnips are better, beans the same, onions worse, courgettes, squashes etc look the same but I haven't had to water, carrots worse by a long way, spinach worse, beetroot same and so on. 

I think it is still the merry go round of different crops doing well in different weather.  But for the people suffering floods it is much worse, and I really do feel for you.  :(  I live in a fairly dry area in Hampshire so I am benefitting from the rain this year, although I am fed up with it now! :(

I was just listening to the end of the news on radio 4 and there was a piece on about vegetable prices rising and shortages of potatoes this year because of blight, the weather is affecting most people one way or another.

The best bit is playing board games indoors when it is pouring with rain with my boys, we have had some fun.... :)

[Tin Shed]

I don't know about better - just very different. Onions and garlic a right off this year, a good crop last year. Courgettes love the weather, all the beans look good - the runner beans last year were useless, carrots seem to be doing well, but germination for parsnips and beetroot were patchy to start with. Lettuce crop seems to be the same

[Curryandchips]

This is my worst year ever - lost almost all of my crops, including potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, broad beans, some climbing beans, parsnips, a lot of garlic, onions are very poor, strawberries, etc etc. Three feet of standing water for several days may have something to do with it. Carrots seem ok, as do the leeks.

I have been practicing my Gallic shrug, since I believe others have come off worse.

Derek

[flossie]

The worst ever  :(

[angle shades]

ditto :(

[powerspade]

Last year all my spuds failed, so did onions, shallots, parsnips. This up to now has been my best year

[debster]

we only grew flowers last year because we were getting married and having the evening in the garden and would be away for 2 weeks in august however year before grew lots of stuff though hubby did most of it and i was comparing mine to his his beans were bigger etc but having said that the weather could have had a lot to do with it

[miniroots]

A lot of my crops are loving it - but so are the slugs!!
They're not supposed to eat the courgettes while they are swelling, are they?
Also spotted a courgette flower last week that was actually rotting on the plant...

But my sprouts are going bonkers!

[robkb]

This is only my second season on the plot, but so far this year is turning out to be worse than last :(. Because of the wet, mild winter the weeds never stopped growing and neither did the slugs! The plot was too wet to dig, and what did get rough dug never got any frosts to break the clods up. Over-wintering onions sulked in very wet ground, but the spring-planted sets are fantastic. Garlic was lifted early because of the wet conditions, so bulbs are small but still tasty. Spuds are now starting to do okay, but slugs are eating the PFA haulms almost as soon as they're above ground. Courgettes and squashes are all getting munched to bits, as are the beans (borlotti, runners and French climbing). Carrots didn't germinate after 6 weeks, so I gave up waiting and sowed more beetroot and radishes instead. And to top it all, bloody vandals visited last week and trashed all the beans poles and pulled up most of my sweetcorn and pumpkins >:( >:(

Oh well... c'est la vie!

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[antipodes]

Hello all! Yes I confirm, for a first timer this has been such a depressing experience. I haven't been able to physically get to the plot for 8  days because of the excessive rain.
Last time I went, the potato plants had vanished and I haven't tried to see what they are like underground, gulp... The peas were rotting, the tomatoes and chilis were rotting, my garlic had rust and doesn't seem to have developed yet, the onions seemed OK but impossible to harvest in this quagmire.
Some things seem to like it wetter: lettuce, broccoli, green beans, parsnips (flourishing!!), fennel and beets. I sowed some more things but haven't been to see if they germinated.
I have been thinking of my fellow gardeners in the North of England, have any of you been affected by floods? sorry was away for a bit there... I hope that none of you have had worse problems than lost veg???
Anyway, let's all hang in, I am starting my winter crops, sprouts, cabbage, leeks etc, maybe we will have more luck with those??

[miniroots]

RobK - that sounds like insult added to injury -
My PFA were badly attacked by slugs - but seem to have recovered more recently, so I hope yours do the same...

And I hope they go for the foliage and leave the actual potatoes alone!

[Larkspur]

Worst ever in the 40 years I have been doing this :'(. Parts of my plot are flooded (despite being on top of a hill) all of it is completely unworkable. Crops have been OK so far spuds, broad beans, and early carrots in containers. Onions (on my highest ground) have done exceptionally well. However part of my maincrop potatoes, my leeks and my gherkins have drowned and the tomatoes don't bear mentioning. The worst part is the absolute mess my normally very tidy plot looks, I can barely stand to look at it and the frustration at being unable to do anything is awful.

[Sparkly]

Well this is my first year on the plot so i can't compare to last year. I have had a few set backs including blight, really bad blackfly infestation on broad beans, carrot fly and now chocolate spot on the broad beans. Saying this all the brassicas are doing brilliantly, along with lettuce, rhubarb, gooseberries, jostaberries, beetroot, onions, spinach, radish, chillies and more. I will learn from the mistakes re: carrot fly and I have so many successes I am can focus on those.  So sorry for any of you that have had your plots flooded. Just concentrate on the rebuilding - it will be ok in the long run!  :)