state of play

[sarah]

as its been such a strange year weather wise i thought i would share my ups and downs on the plot in the face of it all...
things that have done well this year for me are
sweetcorn (how so? not much sun lots of rain hmmm...)
onions
carrots
beetroot
parsnips (first time i have had any success)
garlic
brassicas
lettuces
flowers
weeds

things that have done terrible are
squashes
corgettes
cucumbers (outdoors)
tomatoes (blight)
potatoes ( rocket and desiree)

things that have stuggled but are picking up
beans (french and runner)


my pink fir apples have done ok but i am having to lift them now rather than leaving them in until october as planned, one or two rotten ones but a good crop on the whole compared to the rocket (floury and too big) and desiree (miserable and slugged). last year i was swamped with cucumbers and corgettes; this year i have had two cucumbers off one plant (the other died) and a handful of distorted corgettes off three plants.  the four butternut squashes have not produced a single viable fruit  (gutted about that i am) and only one or two fruit on other squashes.  the beans are finally starting to do well but i did plant them rather late so maybe that was a good thing.  dwarf french beans have been a disaster though. 

whats done well for you? what are your dissapointments?

[sarah]

[Rosyred]

Carrots are wonderful this year. All my first early potatoes and PFA done really well. Cabbages, beans, fennel,onions etc the same as last.

Sweetcorn struggling and no toms this year as we have blight.

[Amazin]

In the garden, counting my total of SIX toms - from 10 assorted , blight-free plants, I'd say it's been a less than successful year, tom-wise. From my three courgette plants, I have so far feasted on both of the delicious fruits, so a tad disappointing there, too.

On the plot, the potatoes that survived the wet and worms (is it eel or wire? I can never remember)  have become huge, so that's okay - now watch me store them badly and lose the lot!

I was fairly confident this year - in future I'll stick to my tried and tested formula - Hope over expectation!   :-\

[Lauren S]

Things that grew well for me...

EARTH GROWN  ;D
Potatoes (Swift 1st Earlies)
Carrots
Lettuce
Beets
Turnips
Corn
Radish
Brassicas

POT GROWN
Beans...Dwarf, Runner and Bush varieties
Courgettes
Cukes
Peppers
Strawberries
Sweet Peas
Chillies

DISASTERS  :'(
20 Tomato Plants (Caught by blight)
Peas...Hmmm not sure what went wrong  ???. Lots of green stalks and leaves, but very few pods
Herbs

Lauren

[antipodes]

It's funny but I can't seem to be able to grow herbs either!!!
I planted heaven knows how many basil seeds, not a single one, Same with tarragon. The thyme from a cutting is OK and I have just now a few little parsley seedlings but no luck with  mint (believe it or not) or other parsley. the only thing that worked well was coriander and actually I really wanted the leaves but only ended up with loads of seeds. Maybe it's the wrong variety...sigh...oh well, the seeds are nice so I shouldn't moan  :)
But how do people get really nice herb gardens? what is the secret??

Oh for the record;
GOOD
Parsnips, beets, rocket, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries, physalis, fennel, leeks, brassicas (well so far...), coriander, sunflowers, Yellow beans
BAD
Goosegogs (but scoffed by birds perhaps- first year anyway), spuds (poor harvest), toms (a cuple of survivors but we've eeaten nought yet), peppers (dead), melons (RIP), pumpkins (idem), gherkins that gave uselessly, courgettes very poor, radish (go hard), peas
MIDDLING
French dwarf beans (beans too big, maybe wrong variety...), onions (healthy but small), chillis (alive with 2 fruit on them ), carrots (didn't always germinate but survivors are straight and tasty)

It's a hit and miss business!!!  ;D

[Si D]

It's my first year (first four months infact) so I'm not overly sure what "doing well" is yet.

But I do seem to have salad leaves and spinach coming out of my ears.
My raddishes seem to be massive but tasty 10 mins after putting the seed into the ground.
Courgettes: only half of them came up - which is a good thing as I don't think we could handle any more.
Parsnips: looking good once I realised that I was weeding the seedlings out  ::)
Spring onions: erm not convinced that we are making progress there.
Beatroot, again looking good - vast majority have poked their heads above ground quite promptly.
Sweet corn - probably the low point of the efferts.  Think I'm going to run out of summer before they get anywhere.  They look healthy and they are growing but still very small: think better soil was called for.

All in all, for my first 1/3 of a year at the lottie lark I'm quite pleased with everything!

[SMP1704]

Went well's

Potatoes, espcially the mains
Carrots
Lettuce - if only I could be there before it bolts ::)
Runner beans after a shaky start
Dwarf french beans - Ferrari - just fabbie - wish I had sown 3x as many
Peas - Hurst Greenshaft - its the only pea for us
Squash - Anna Hubbard - I think it has plans for world domination, hope the family like squash!
Flowers - nasturtiums, calendula and cosmos
Onions - red and white are OK not sure how long they will store
PSB is looking good

Not gone so well's

Butternut - they form then die :'(
Beetroot - hopeless this year but had more than I knew what to do with last year
Tomatoes - still standing in spite of blight and some are ripening but have any picked 3 toms to date :o
Sweetcorn - jury is still out - all a good size and some even have two cobs but not are yet ripe.
Cucumbers - tried burpless - total disaster
Strawberries - an ongoing battle with the local wildlife - geese in the spring and now slugs but the ones we do get are delish
Courgettes - was armed with recipes and only 3 ::)
Spinach - not a single leaf, either munched or bolted before I get a look in
Melons - the melon house feel down :-[ but do have one Sweetheart maturing - being cossetted on polysterene and under plastic.

Do differently
Be less ambitious with melon production
Give the squash their own bed. 3 sisters may have worked for native americans but it hasn't gone well in Isleworth
Better succession for the peas and just concentrate on HGS
Improve defences for the strawberry bed.

[Eristic]

The good.

Broad beans.
Early peas
Carrot
Runner bean
Courgette
Beetroot
Globe artichoke
Spring onion
Swiss chard

Poor

Onions
Shallots
Parsnip


Mediocre

Garlic
Tomatoes
Peppers
Sweetcorn
Maincrop peas

Pending

Summer and winter squashes look set for a late but strong finish.
Grapes. Weather dependant but looking good.
Jerusalem's.
Leeks.
Oka and Ullucus. Unknown entities but tops looking good.

This year has been a difficult one and is likely to see a few plotholders retire but has rammed home the importance of variety. The greater the number of different crops the better chance of going home with the swag. What is bad conditions for one plant is ideal for another.

[Deb P]

My first year down the plot too.......lots of ups and downs but I've enjoyed every minute (except the kidney stones I had to pass 'cause I got dehydrated from spending too long in the sun and not drinking enough!!)

Things that have exceeded expectations.....

Onions and shallots...overwintering onions were the very first things I planted back in November and did brilliantly, would grow 'Electric and 'Silvermoon' again, Jermour shallots good too. The stars were the 'Bunton's Showstopper' big boy onions and the Banana Shallots I grew from seed, massive plants.

Garlic....also planted in November, 'Marco' 'Germidour' and ?'Christo' all gave me more than enough big bulbs to last until next year hopefully!

Early peas...'Show Perfection' performed early and prolifically, decorative, huge pods and great taste too! They finished quite early too, so I needed to have something ready to take its place....which I didn't!  ::) Purple Podded were my favorites, mostly because they were so easy to see and therefore pick! I did a late sowing of them in June to replace my tomatoes (see below) which are now 3' high and starting to bud up.

Potatoes....the earlies did well considering the dry start, favourite was 'Anya'. Also a suprise was the ' Mayan Gold' I planted as an experiment, the foliage was a bit different to the other potatoes and seemed to resist blight better.

Strawberries...Gariguette'....fab as always, outstanding taste, and 'Marshmello' tried after a GWL offer and a big hit, will be growing on the runners from those two for sure.

Dwarf French Beans...ah the taste! Need to allow a lot more space for them next year.

Cauliflowers.....Jeannine's 'Shasta' seeds gave me the best cauli's I have ever grown, outperformed the other two varieties I have tried before at home.

Peppers and chilies....all doing brilliantly in the little lottie greenhouse!

Parsnips.....pregerminated on damp kitchen roll...great plants, would use that method again.


The ne'er do wells.....

Climbing French Beans....got frosted on the 2nd of June and never really recovered. Some are just starting to flower now, second sowing never caught up. Must remember to save myself some spare plants sold at the June Open Day next year!

Potatoes.....no suprise, blighted. Gave away my two Sarpo varieties as I underestimated the amount of space I had available for them..... ::) Will allocate less space and grow mostly early salad varieties I think. Also need to grow more squash to fill the gaps left by culling the potatoes earlier than expected!

Romanesco cauliflowers........blew really quickly and wasn't impressed tastewise.

Tomatoes.......all varieties blighted and succumbed really quickly. Would try again but keep standby plants in case of disaster to fill the gaps if necessary.

Strawberries....'Maxim'....big, but bland :'( Pants compared to the other two mentioned above.

Melons and Watermelons......all now have mildew and tiny, tiny fruit....disasters. :'(

Lessons learned.....

Kohl Rabi...just because it looks nice and grew well does not mean your kids will eat it.....

Have some 'spare' plants to hand in case of frost or disease.

There is no such thing as too many Strawberries....

Grow more pumpkin and squash, french beans and banana shallots.

Remember that Purple Podded peas and 'dwarf' Sunflowers grow over 5' tall when working out where to plant them......

And don't forget to drink plenty when you spend way too much time 'down the plot!' ;D

[saddad]

Good to see the shed coming on as well... see you at the meeting this evening...
;D

[Biscombe]

GOOD

Watermelon (only one from 3 plants, but exciting!)
Squash especialy Waltham Butternut
Yellow courgette
Potatoes
Tomatoes (need pulling now though)
Figs (Feasting now)
Kale
Chard
Early saeson cut n come again Jan-May in 2 poly tunnels!!!!!!
Tayberries
Lemons
Carmen & Marketmore cukes (thanks Jeannine)
Tomatillos (even though they self sowed!!)

BAD
Summer lettuce (Bolts all overthe place, giving up on eating lettuce in the summer!!!!)
Carrots (don't like our soil!)
Melon (grew lots of varieties but taste bland!)
Green courgette (not nearly as good as the yellow ones!)
Crystal Apple Cukes (rubbish, about 4 fruits from 3 plants!!) likes mildew too!!!!

[sunloving]

This was my first year on my plot and i wasnt expecting a lot becuase the soil is so sandy and manure in NI is £40 per trailer load!

But my peas early onward were brilliant , some even made it into the kitchen!
my raspberries which went in and were pruned to the ground in march are now fruiting like mad
ive had big bunches of sweetpeas and cornflowers for the last 10 weeks and the sweetcorn just might make it to ripening!
I interplanted everything with ailsa craig onion and gladioloi which have also been brilliant.

the real disapointments were
tomatoes , even gardeners delight is only just picking up enough to have slight colour on the fruit.
The strawberries were mushy with the rain and slugs :(
The french beans again are only now showing signs of puting some leaf on after the struggle against the cold and wet
The broccoli got cabbage root fly and then the slugs and pigeons  got the ones i fitted with cardboard collars!  >:(
and my Pack choi bolted

But its still a wonderful place to be and this next year ill be better prepared, after making friends with horsey people, and have a slew of very early and very late brassicas to try to beat the rootfly.

onwards and upwards ;D

sunloving

[sarah]

it occurs to me that i have not had the usual trouble from blackfly that i normallyget on my runners and frenchies. i wonder why that is.

[cambourne7]

Hi

I am writing this year off as a non starter.

Potatoes - very hit and miss mostly very small. No blight but had hollow heart on some.

Onions - Good crop early on from last years plants, this years sets are starting to bulb up but still small, the onions started from seed look like young leeks now.
Garlic - 65 bulbs mostly on the small side
Beetroot - Good crop non got very big and some have just gone straight to seed
Parsnips - developing ok so far
Carrots - Slow germination and none so far this year.
Cauli - Some monsters which is a surprise as i did not plant them :)
Cabbage - waiting
Swede - 1/2 eaten by slugs waiting to see what crops like
Tomatos - following 2lb of green tomatoes all the tomatoes have now been binned with blight.
Courgettes - nothing yet
Pumpkins - had 3 beautys 2 killed by birds and vandles i have one left and its getting big :)
Leeks - pencil thick (2nd attempt)
Salad - Only thing the slugs are not eating so its going to seed quickly
Peas/Beans - Given up most failed to germinate or were eaten by slugs the ones that did grow did nothing really.
Turnip - getting there
Rhubarb - Went a bit funny but looking ok now
Squash - None germinated or if they did the slugs got them
Sweetcorn - Getting there tassels are just going brown so i can harvest soon
PSB - Went straight to seed
Spring Onions - Almost ready to pick
B.Sprouts - Eaten by sawfly :-(

Heres to a better 2008

Cambourne7

[artichoke]

"Crystal Apple Cukes"

I am also very disappointed in these. The first few small ones were encouraging, tasted nice and juicy, but there are hardly any more. In spite of the rain, they don't seem to grow.

[marestail murderer]

things that did well....................

marestail..........couch grass......snails................3 moorhens and a coot!

things that didnt do well.................


the local rabbit population...........although signs of recovery are now evident as small round droppings are once again appearing

anything capable of floating!


lessons learned.................

plant rice.................do away with raised beds and make floating ones instead!
go into canoe making big time!


roll on next year!!!!!

[kt.]

Onions & shallots - excellent.
1st & 2nd Early spuds - excellent
4x variety of maincrop spuds - 2 excellent, 2 middle the road
Early carrots - good (Only those in pots. Those in the ground never came)
Peas - in abundance
Lettuce - good
Courgettes - too many to count
Brassicas - all  are doing well
Parsnip & Swede - Doing well - started in seed trays
Strawberries - did ok...

Crap crop:
Beetroot - Zero
Pumpkins - Pests ate every bit of evidence to say they were there.
Cara spuds - poor
Rhubarb - poor
Outdoor tomatos & cucumbers - next to none
2 sowings of swede seeds put directly in the ground - none

Pending:
Tomatos in the greenhouse have yet to ripen
Apple trees - one fine & one poor

[flowerlady]

things that did well....................

marestail..........couch grass......snails................3 moorhens and a coot!

things that didnt do well.................

...................    anything capable of floating!

lessons learned.................

plant rice.................do away with raised beds and make floating ones instead!
go into canoe making big time!

roll on next year!!!!!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

... but isn't it strange how different some of these reports are ... if the planting dates were the same that would have been extraordinary ...

The only thing that seems to have universally bombed are the toms !  :-X :-\

[ThomsonAS]

This year:

Good
  early spuds
  lettuces
  onions
  spinach

OK
broad beans
sweetcorn (tho' lowish yield)

Disasterous
tomatos
main crop spuds (these and toms got blight)
parsnips
radishes (RADISHES for goodness sake!)

Fingers crossed
brussels
celeriac (if the keep growing!)
leeks