How Has Your Vegetable Garden Grown?

[Lesley Jay]

Has anyone had a successful year this year growing vegetables?

Mine has been a complete wash out. Drowned. But I am looking forward to next year!

[Bubblewrap]

Mostly good runner beans did very well, potatoes not so good! I had to harvest early as all the tops died off & I only got about half the crop I was expecting.

[Amanda.luther]

Hello all,

Our veg hasn't done to bad this year, this is our first year so we were sort of on a trial run. Pease were a total washout and didn't do so well with onions but everything else seems to have done ok. Lets see if it was beginners luck eh!

[herbyajh]

I was brave and tried a few different (for me) veg this year. Peas & Petit Pois wonderful - all eaten straight from the row! Calabrese is so gorgeous it can't be related to the stuff you can buy. And when I cut my first ever mini cauliflower I was quite overwhelmed! All my usual favourites were good, special mention for the sweetcorn - best ever. Even carrots, planted alongside a row of Japanese spring onions that you can leave them in the ground to use like leeks. First early potatoes grew very fast and salad potatoes (Pink Fir Apple) as good as ever. I feel very lucky that this year went well, I grew green manure on the beds last autumn where possible, so I'm definitely going to do it again this year.

[Sebbster]

I've had a very good year for first time. So far have had :

Broad Beans (Giant Longpod Enhibition)
Carrots (Nantes and Autumn King)
Calabrese
Sprouts (earlies)
Potatoes (early Annabelle)
Potatoes (main Cara), although I dug all these up yesterday and I only had 10, yes 10 of about 200 that were not riddled with slug holes. Very dissapointed.
Onions (main)
Cucumbers
Runner Beans, lots of em
Spinach
Beetroot

Not ready yet :

Tomatos - still ripening
Chili's - lots of green but I want red

Currently growing in the plot for Winter :

Savoy Caggage
Curly Kale
Turnips
Swedes
Sprouts (all early variety but not picked too many yet)
More Autumn King carrots, sowed 2-3 weeks ago
Beetroot (speedy seeds)
Annabelle pots (Trying for christmas spuds)

Ready to plant out :

Chard - Bright Yellow
Spring Cabbage

My main aim over the winter is to prepare the ground better with manure for those crops that need it. I also have 2 projects. One to properly level and path around the plot and the other to dig a large area which I had no time to cultivate this year. This area will be manured and be my potato plot next season.

[mostlybegrowing]

Hi, I only started growing veg in April this year and I think I have done really well. My enviromesh netting has kept away most of the pest offenders except slugs

I have harvested so far:
Potatoes (desiree) 4 pots and some in a raised bed,
Carrots, first one was split and then followed by really big carrots,
Peas (hurst green shaft) until the mildew got them,
Spring onions did really well, I had too many so gave them to family,
Cabbages (frostie and greyhound) did really well,
Radishes, so quick and easy,
Lettuce - twice now have been eaten by slugs,
Perpetual Spinach went on and on,
Kale - grew really tall and then I realised I didn't like the taste of it yuk!
Dwarf French beans were good but short lived and
the best veg of all - My Runner Beans (red rum and white lady) are still going strong, I have given loads away, frozen loads and the beans are still growing!!

I was so nervous when I started sowing my seeds back in April thinking what if they don't start growing or i'm doing something wrong but now I'm very pleased with my back garden plots and what they have produced so far.

[Mrs Dobby]

Well, when you consider its been our first year of growing, and we've nothing to compare it with, then I'd say its been a fairly good year for us! We've not bought any fruit or veg at all since late March, and its looking like we'll have plenty to eat for at least a while yet!

Successes
Onions - (both sets and from seed), have enough stored, pickled and frozen to see us thru the winter with ease
Cabbage - Still plenty growing, had some really good sized ones that have tasted fab
Caulis - All of the ones we planted did well, harvested at the stage when big enough for a meal for 2 of us!
Parsnips - Huge!!!!!! We've had 13 or so, so far, and have another 87 growing, ranging in size from 6" diameter and 30" length to more modest sizes!
Broccolli - some very tasty and decent amounts!
Mange Tout - still producing and we've about 10lb frozen too!
French beans - about 15lb in total, tho lost a lot to wabbits!
Leeks - just reaching baby size, have over 300 growing on our 2 plots!
Tomatoes - outdoor ones have failed abysmally, but the greenhouse ones and hanging basket ones have been fab! Still harvesting about 9lb a week!
Carrots - late maincrops are looking very good, earlies were a bit of a problem, both with carrot fly and wabbits nibbling them to death!
Courgette - steady supply thats still coming, no huge gluts this year, but we're putting that down to the weather!
Broad beans have been good, about 15lb frozen and lots eaten!
Early strawbs and rasps were great, got loads, but later ones dont seem to have done too much yet!
Rhubarb - 20lb frozen for the winter and we've had lots to eat!
Spring onions and radish have been great, lots of them!
Lettuce has been good, esp the little gems, keep well in the fridge too!
chillies - masses still on the greenhouse plants!
Peppers, must have had 40 + so far, and still lots on the plants in the greenhouse!
Aubergines, had 13 so far, lovely and still about another 14 or so on the plants!
celery is growing well, but not harvested yet
Peas have been ok, tho not the best crops this year.
Cucumbers - had 27 from one marketmore in the greenhouse, including a 21" long one, and still lots more coming from the same greenhouse plant. Outdoor ones havent really done much at all.
Gherkins - 7 so far from the outdoor ones
Jerusalem Fartichokes - at 11' tall, masses of them, so probably have lots of them for this winter!
Borlotti beans are looking like being a massive crop!
Had 4lb of cherries from the 4 yr old tree in the front garden, and about 7lb of cooking apples and 11 eating apples from the other 4 yr old trees in the front garden!
Pumpkins are doing well, we've a couple of huge ones, about 9 mediums plus some other assorted squashes, but not the quantity we thought we were going to have!
Early spuds were fab, about a barrow full of them, but maincrops were hit by blight early on, so a bout 2/3rds of a barrowfull from 2 full beds.
Swedes - harvested some lovely big ones, and still plenty left in!
Sweetcorn, just starting to harvest, looks like we have about 70 cobs of varying size, plus some minipop to harvest!
Blackcurrants - about 10lb of fruit in total!
Blackberries - about 5lb of fruit so far
Garlic - about 75 decent sized cloves harvested, plus some other smaller ones and still some spring planted to harvest yet!
Shallots - about 35 to harvest yet!
PSB - looking good for a reasonable harvest in the very near future!
Sprouts - looking good for a harvest soon!

Failures
Asparagus - 4 spears showed their heads, so were weeded and left alone.
Goosegogs - mildewed and very little crops
Early carrots - as mentioned above
Maincrop spuds as mentioned above
Outdoor toms as mentioned above
Pickling onions, nibbled by wabbits and didnt amount to much, fortunately some of the later onion sets we planted didnt grow too big, so I've about 5lb of them pickled instead (gods they are really good too!)

And thats about it so far, still plenty of stuff growing, hopefully enough to keep us going for a while yet!

[bramble]

Makes great reading Mrs Dobby though well deserved after all the hard work you and Mr D put in. Really pleased for you.

[Lesley Jay]

Quite amazingly my pot of Cobra french beans has the first beans of the season on the plants and loads of flowers. Not a single bean all summer!!

[VORWERK]

Well despite the awfull season weve had ive not had too bad a year in my local village Flower & Veg show i won the overall veg section and one of my daughters won all the childrens competitions the schools garden club came
2nd in their cat in the local Britain in Bloom comp and the Allotment project i run for the local youth offending team won the allotment cat in Britain in bloom.

All that said i do hope we don't have a summer like this one next year

Pics below my bit of silver ware to polish for the next year and my daughter with her trophies

[Lesley Jay]

Blimey Vorwerk you and your daughter quite literally won the lot! Say congratulations from me to your daughter, she has done fantastic!

[Reads Retreat]

Has been the best I can remember.

I put my success down to using raised beds, with great free draining soil.

I was planting outside from end of Feb onwards.

Now I just need more raised beds !

TTFN

[carlseawolf]

first year at this but didn't do to bad;

good crops ; parsnip -white gem
carrot - mixed lot
summer cabbages - primo 2
swiss chard - silver something or other
beetroot - detroit 2
leeks - robinsons mammoth
onions - robinsons mammoth
lettuce - cut and come again

bad crops ;
potatoes - maris baird , loss many to rotting or slugs
garlic - bolted towards the end , but still had a crop
red cabbage - small heads
fruit trees - failed to fruit or what did got ill

[mrs potato head]

Our first year, not a bad one really. Def got bug back.Plan of doubling size of exsisting plot, have been offered second one almost next door. For various reasons not sure whether to take it on!.
Kids love eating there /our own produce.
Toms and Spuds like many failed. Aubergeine only just flowering!!!
Sweetcorn was fantastic, Chillis amazing GH full, onions, best Beetroot evey tasted (of course i'm biased)
Salad in abundance, have been trading it with local deli.
Main thing its been good fun, made new freinds. Had a few BBQs and downed a few beer, Heres to next year.

[DeloresH]

Hey, just found this gardening forum. Wish I had found it before. I have been a gardener for YEARS, my son & I have a huge garden in a community garden (in Madison, WI). Love my garden, I am busy all summer canning, freezing and taking care of the garden. Question, does anyone grow leeks? We have each year, but this year they seem real "hard and woody" in the center. Don't know if it is the weather or left them too long??
DeeH

[DeloresH]

wow!! love your pictures. I have a huge garden, with my son, took some pictures but didn't turn out that well. We garden in a "community garden" with 50 other gardeners.
Have done it for years. This year in particular was really bad for "theft". Just when something is ready to pick--it is gone before you get the rewards!

[DeloresH]

how did your leeks do? We planted a lot, and this year for some reason they seem to have a "hard center". Real disappointed.

[Livebait]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Has anyone had a successful year this year growing vegetables?

Mine has been a complete wash out. Drowned. But I am looking forward to next year!

Sorry to hear you have a complete wash out! I've done quit well. I'll share some more pics. soon.

[leehydro007]

Originally Posted by Bubblewrap

Mostly good runner beans did very well, potatoes not so good! I had to harvest early as all the tops died off & I only got about half the crop I was expecting.

my garden was spoiled by snowing...

[lazydog]

after last years slug invasion i was hoping the long cold spell would wipe them out it appears i was sadley wrong!
just been out and removed the netting which had collapsed with the weight of snow,from the cabbages and there where as many as ever only small but all well feed on the leaves that where supposed to be my dinner!!