This years Vegetables !

[Hammer]

Just a few comments on my Vegetable beds this year.
Spuds - Earlies (Home Guard) good but poorish yield,Maincrop (King Edwards) good yields but big problems with worms (Keel worms i think)
Carrots pretty good, very big with good taste but some root fly damage.
Garlic (Arno) excellent, first time growing Garlic, no problems great crop, same with Red and White Onions - Carmen & Stuttgarter Giant all good, no problems.Cabbages, a bit of a disaster considering they were my best produce last year.Overall not a good year for me compared to last, partly due to weather, partly due to me being a bit complacent, did a lot of work preparing soil but apart from watering pretty much left things to their own devices.
I find myself becoming very reluctant to use ANY pesticides or fertilizers that contain chemicals.Just returned from Andalucia, Spain and was looking at vast areas of land, tens of thousands of acres growing beautiful healthy Olive Trees in the Cordoba area and suddenly noticed when i pulled off the road for a quiet break (then it hit me the silence, not a bird,a bee nothing a dead paradise) all i could see for miles was Olive Trees (which i am very fond of) but no other trees, no plants, no birds, bees - nothing not even a few weeds under the trees.! Looked into this when i got home and find that some people (and i am inclined to agree with them) saying that in ten years this whole area and many other areas of Spain will be virtual Dessert, dead Soil with no nutrients (Olive Trees require very little water) so soil is already dry and almost sandy and the use of Pesticides to kill the Olive fly destroys all other growth, not just "weeds",also kills Bees so nothing could be pollinated anyway.Disillusioned sums it up - put me in a Quandry - any thoughts ??? PS there is no solution to the olive fly problem except nasty chemicals.

[rveggie]

Awesome tips.. I try to stay away from pesticides myself

[solway cropper]

I think the weather has been disastrous for many of us this year. My tree fruit crops have been almost non-existent but made up for by bumper crops of soft fruit. Poatatoes also poor but excellent crops of brassicas. I think you just have to hope for better next year and you soon find that no two years are the same.

As for pesticides, etc. I think that if you can't grow your own fruit and veg without chemicals you should give up. I don't mean there's no place for them in home growing just that they shouldn't be seen as the first choice. I sometimes use slug pellets but in a very restricted and controlled way and always as a last resort. It's different for commercial growers with their monoculture approach as that just invites pests and diseases. Even so, I think there is an over reliance on chemicals among many of them but if we are to feed a hungry world I don't know what the answer is.

[johntheeng]

I find it neccessary to use slug pellets but use netting for everything else. Too many chemicals cannot be benificial in the long run but as solway cropper says that it is different for commercial growers.