People often say they learn a lot from this site but I wonder what lessons we have learned from this season. To start off I have learned:
as some wise person said last year 'it's often too early [to plant] but seldom too late' - been a very useful adage during this weird year.
That after losing my entire tomato crop to blight 2 years running it really does pay to grow resistant strains.
Pretty little white butterflies fluttering about the garden can actually wipe out all my brassicas - next year I will protect with netting.
There will always be failures, but some outstanding successes as well. Just remember to keep smiling :)
I have learnt loads from everyone here.
So a big thank you to all ;)
So what have i learnt.
1. To remove all grass in your garden and plant veggies ;)
2. Like above, get netting.
3. Get a greenhouse.
4. Read up on how to plant veg.
;)
Patience!
:-\
Still trying to learn that one EJ!!!
;)
Quote from: ChrisG on August 28, 2006, 21:23:58
....4. Read up on how to plant veg.
I'm sure plenty of people have lots of fave recommendations for books but my most battered and oft-referred to book is the RHS Fruit and Vegetable Gardening book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=bellebouche-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&location=%2FRHS-Fruit-Vegetable-Gardening%2Fdp%2F0751336831%2Fref%3Dsr_11_1%3Fie%3DUTF8). It covers just about everything you need to know and is packed with invaluable information on... well... everything! I don't think it's ever left me wanting for an answer and it's great to sit and leaf through during idle non-gardening moments.
Perhaps my only criticism of the book would be it does have something of a conservative tone about it... I liken it to chatting to an assortment of old-boy alotmenteers! That said, I have learned to routinely ignore the plant spacing recommendations which I think are a little on the generous side.... my only minor grumble with it.
On the whole heartily recommend as the cornerstone of a library on fruit and veg gardening!
- Adrian
That courgettes and french beans, which I thought needed loads of water, don't!
I think loat of us will be saving time and effort next year, having realised that you don't have to water every day.
To make my tomato support a bit more sturdy :-[
Here's a pic to my shame - its the frame at the front of the pic, not the grid one which is for something different.
On the bright side suppose should be pleased that the toms were so weighty that they broke it ;D
Oh dear, that looks unfortunate, did you lose any crops as a result? Wind loading may have contributed of course.
No tomatoes lost. Think it was more a case of it just not being up to the job. :(
Quote from: jennym on August 29, 2006, 13:01:06
Think it was more a case of it just not being up to the job. :(
I am a firm believer in wigwams, from a strength point of view. In Spain, I have noticed most smallholdings seem to grow tomatoes this way.
I hope I have learned to wait until my soil is ready, not rush to plant when other people on here say they have had their veg in x weeks.... ::) ::)
3 sowings of sweetcorn and the only one to do owt is the one that I thought I'd left too late.. :)
That those Sarpo spuds really do seem to live up to their publicitiy about being resistant to blight etc: still growing like triffids when all other varieties are getting ominously sad and raggedy!
That three inches of mulchy anything-that-comes-to-hand does wonders to keep the sun from baking the clay soil here to pottery, and so does planting stuff closer than the books say (a tip from travelling in Central America years ago and being shown milpa gardens (cross a jungle, an allotment and a cottage garden and you'll get the general idea :D )
And that I need to get digging NOW or get caught out when the ground's too waterlogged and cold to do a thing with in the early months, like I did this year! :-[
to make pea supports much stronger.
to plant / sow more; buying baby cabbages for transplanting from the nursery isn't cheating, it's effective time management!
to get organised, create a time chart and pay attention to it.
don't fret the little stuff and weed where your food is, strim/poison/ignore the other areas.
plant closer together (as above, that's the RHS book for you! ;D)
scaffolding edges makes things look neater instantly.
plant perrenials.
don't let the OH cotton on to the fact that it's not a cheap hobby!
When arriving at the plot: water first, sow second (moist soil, see), hand weed third, other tending jobs fourth, structural organisation (including stone removal at 1 spit down) fifth, harvest sixth, leave feeling accomplished! ;D
I have learned that there is no greater pleasure than going to the veggie patch and picking what we're going to eat.
Alison
Can't argue with that,
and that somethings will fail out of spite while others will exceed all expectations for no apparent reason,
to try something new every year...
8)
What have I Learned? Mmmmmmmmmmmm?
1) I don't need 15 courgette plants for a family of 2! ;D
2) I need to try mulching to keep weeds down :-\
3) Ducks will only eat the plants that you don't want them to! >:(
4) I love gardening! ;D
5) I love cooking ! ;D
6) I make great jams and chutneys! 8)
7) I should never have let my OH near the chainsaw - 20 weeks later my fingers are eventually healed! :-\
That the world is still a beautiful place.
(On the allotment, at least.)
It all comes together in the end......
Tomatoes need extraordinary staking! I'm not sure i have a solution to that one yet. Chilis and aubergines need to be really warm in spring or they don't grow.
To plant in succession! Would still be eating tomatoes and aubergine here in Spain If I had done that! DOH learning all the time!! BTY Great post!!
I've learnt a lot that I hope I will remember for next year, but probably the most important thing I've learnt is not to sow so much of certain things like pak choi, rocket, but rather sow little and at intervals.
I've also learnt that using string as a climbing support for French beans wasn't a good idea so i shall be going back to using just canes next year, far more sturdy!
But I also agree with everyone else who've said how much they enjoy their lottie :-)
I think the trick with toms is to plant a range of varieties, so that one starts as another finishes. You may well be able to do the same with aubs, but I've only tried growing them the once.
Things I have learnt.
1. Do not share an allotment with a friend, they only show up at harvest time.
2. Do not break your leg, it makes allotmenteering rather difficult.
3. Grow less tomatillos.
4. Grow more carrots.
5. Deer are evil.
6. This year has been really weird.
1 Try lots of diffrerent things - some will be successful others will fail.
2 Don't plant tomatoes too close together
3 Make life as simple as possible - plants in the ground need less watering than those in pots
HI amphibian, I'm with you on the tomatillo thing!!!! I've got three plants packed with fruit and I don't like them much either!! Cape goosberry are different I'll grow more next year.
Enjoy whatever emerges.
One well-nibbled cabbage, twenty breadseed poppies wafting in the breeze, a trampled row of spring onions, a wall swaddled in beautiful but beanless Borlottis, the first cucumber, triffid too-late peppers... nature will out... sit back, smile, and enjoy the fruitless fruits of your labours, as well the fruited ones.
:)
I am with Growmore on this, as it is best to remember that each year is different and it is not necessarily your fault if things don't grow as well as last year. But next year I will definitely not grow as many courgette plants. :) busy_lizzie
Food tastes better fresh.
Courgettes need little tending and seem to crop well - also have the added bonus of being able to be left to grow large for bulking up chutneys !
Squashes fill up spare space !
Grow more yellow toms - make yellow sauce !
...that it's definitely swings and roundabouts.
Some things do well one year and others do less well, but the next year it's completely different.
I've learned to go with the flow(most of the time) and not worry so much. Nature has it's own rhythm and we just need to relax into it.
Slugs however are a different matter...
........another thing
White butterflies do look nice but Enviromesh is a must!
marymary, I have grown brassicas under enviromesh on frames made by O.H. for several years, excellant against butterflys, but this year white fly got in and multiplied by thousands, I couldn't cope, opened up and now have white fly on lace curtains. :'( UNhappygnan.
I have never seen cabbage whites like this year, they are still about in their dozens & still laying eggs & hatching their horrid caterpillars even the chickens turn their beaks up at them. Have just pulled up most of my PSB. I did think the lesson was buy enviromesh but now I'm not so sure. Anyone know of a biological control or any other solutions?
BT. I even had a Small White in the kitchen yesterday.
I have learned many amazing things. Like:
People in London will actually talk to each other!
You can grow brilliant melons in the UK.
Bindweed is the Devil's way of sending you pretty flowers.
In the countryside manure is free - in London it's far from cheap.
The mice eat your corn - but there's still plenty left, so why not share.
That it's fine to worry more about your carrots than what your boss thinks of your last presentation.
And most importantly that the Earth sustains us all and asks for little in return. Let's make sure we look after her a little better.
Stork.
Quote from: amphibian on September 01, 2006, 08:53:52
Things I have learnt.
1. Do not share an allotment with a friend, they only show up at harvest time.
2. Do not break your leg, it makes allotmenteering rather difficult.
3. Grow less tomatillos.
4. Grow more carrots.
5. Deer are evil.
6. This year has been really weird.
Agreed with it all espcialy 6 ! - is there anything you can make with tomatillos like a chutney that may suit the tart flavour?
I've learnt:-
1 to try all the things you fancy, and even the things you don't - you never really know until you try!
2 to have an "experimental" area for trying one or two of the aforementioned things you don't really fancy cos chances are, the things you grow loads of, you in actual fact, DON'T like. (tomatillos? seem to fit into this point!)
3 not to be put off by "difficulty ratings" in books etc. As has been said on here "plants want to grow!", even the difficult ones!
4 mistakes make for invaluable learning material.
5 that next year i will either improve my memory to remember and learn from my mistakes, or buy a book to write everything down!
6 vegetable growing is addictive and it will soon take over your life! (in a good way)
7 A4A is the best!
8 lots of other things that i can't remember (refer to point 5!)
:) ;) :D ;D :-*
Large areas of either mesh or fleece are hell to handle.
Mesh - esp the fine stuff - is like a bucket of eels. Fleece will always lift off in the slightest breeze & get under your feet.
DO get help if you can.
There`s always next year
Amen, powerspade!
Things I've learned this year:
Little and often is the way to go with allotments.
Try a row of something different. The row of chard is a delight this year. Also happy with broccoli raab tho it bolts easily. And grow for yourself - if you hate runner beans, don't grow them even if they're easy.
Plant some for the snails! They'll grab some anyway.
Don't panic. It's only an allotment, not bomb-building.
That being said, mesh and fortifications are necessary for brassicas. Get 'em up and then don't worry.
How to make chutney (yum).
Quote from: powerspade on September 15, 2006, 16:05:05
There`s always next year
For most of us, yes - however having just lost my cousin, and knowing that Lorna has also lost her neice I follow on from your sentiment, powerspade, with - live life for now, and live it to the fullest. And don't sweat the small stuff! Life IS short and you only get one go, so enjoy it! :)
Squashfan, I wish I'd learnt that about planting some for the snails! Will remember that - hopefully! 8)
I know what folk mean by planting closer, BUT - 6 rows of Brassica in 4m is TOO MUCH!
The middle row in the picture has been used. And the rows are now about right. If closer:
1. You get soaked walking between them.
2. You can barely force your way through the rows because of the lower leaves intertwining.
3. It is difficult to see what is ready for harvest.
4. A mesh sheet is not large enough to cover the lot, but you can't get it down between rows to anchor it.
5. It is very difficult to clear out dead or diseased leaves.
6. It is near impossible to spray - should you so wish.
The answer in some cases is to grow smaller varieties.