The Annual Appraisal and Stocktake 2018-19

[veggiechicken]

The garden/plot is looking full at the moment - lots of plants and not much free space.
Now is the time to take a critical look at what's growing and whether it justifies its space.
For example, I have a row of yellow raspberries, a row that's getting bigger as it creeps across the garden. Yesterday I picked some and it confirmed what I think every year, they're a complete waste of space. They neither look nice or taste of anything.
This year, they're definitely getting the boot.
Is there anything that you grow that should be kicked out?

[Chestnut]

Weeds!

More seriously, I evicted a rotten shed and am starting to get rid of various decorative stone/little plants arty bits we inherited...

[Jimny14]

Peas. Sad as it is the amount of space they take up for the amount of time podding and the amount of space I can afford to give them doesn't make them space or time efficient for the yield we get. So this year they didn't go in and the space was taken over by more new potatoes.

[Jay-ell]

I planted strawberries and pineberries under the currant/gooseberry hedge. Harvesting them can be a right pain - especially the ones under the gooseberries. They also make it harder to quickly weed under the cordons so all sorts of pernicious little blighters hang around that area.

They may not be done with entirely though - I may just re-home them to the New Forest once I plant it in the Heart of Darkness next to the Back of Beyond.

[Small pumpkin]

Growing pea beans & Turks turban, for the last time this year. They are out of here.
I'll be adding to this list as the season progresses.

[burnie]

Looks like the Honeyberry is for the chop for starters

[jonahjonah]

I had left some of the plantings from the previous plotholder (my current neighbor on the site). I was hoping the flowers would bring bees and I could avoid the wholesale destruction of his previous work. Unfortunately, so much of what was planted spreads through roots and rhizomes and, apparently, magic that it is encroaching on my plantings and making the place look even more messy than my shoddy skills warrant. There's a massive hellebore that needs to come out, more ornamental grasses, a small country's worth of loosestrife and more. I feel guilty, but I think it's got to go. I do want to rehome the giant shrub hellebore though. The guilt is too strong.

[Snoop Puss]

^Offer them back to your plot neighbour? If he doesn't want them, and they were his to start with and he had no qualms in abandoning them first time around, no need for you to feel guilty.

Otherwise, put up a note. Other plot holders on your site might be glad to have some of them for their garden.

[Lardman]

The raspberry thicket is for the chop here this winter. My "full season collection" turns out to be entirely summer fruiting ones. The birds take most and what's left are small, full of seeds and pretty tasteless.

The blackberry bushes. The two thornless bushes are a straggly mess despite my best efforts to keep them trained along wires. What makes it past the birds and rats are so bitter they need cooking with sugar before eating.

The asparagus bed. Partly my fault for planting them in the wrong place, as they shade a large part of the veg garden. Each winter I lose a crown or 2 due asparagus beetle weakening them despite growing well in my sand pit (there's a commercial farm just down the road). There's also the fact Im not overly fond of eating them either

Yet another final written warning to be issued to the rhubarb, it doesn't much like sandy dry soil and shows it. Im just struggling to to pull the trigger and dig it up.

[chris_m]

I'll probably be chopping out one row of my raspberries this autumn. When I moved in I inherited a 6' x 6' unsupported "thicket" of them. After the first harvest, I installed two rows of wire supports and chopped out the plants in the middle to leave me a U-shaped arrangement, two supported rows, plus some near the fence. They obviously appreciated it because they grew very happily last year but, despite a fairly harsh pruning and chopping back last autumn, the two rows are almost meeting again - purely due to the volume of foliage.

I put a Tayberry in where there was a gap in one row last autumn too - I can't even find that now !!!

I can't eat all the raspberry crop, nor give any away because the neighbours either don't like raspberries or grow their own, to the extent that I still have jam left over from the year before last and have had to chuck away the last few boxes in the freezer from last year to make room for this year's crops, both raspberries and other stuff.

Therefore I think a reduction is in order so I'll probably chop out one row entirely - hopefully finding and avoiding chopping the tayberry. I might then add a couple more tayberry bushes and just have those in that row.

[1Bee]

So far most things are paying their way, it's more a case of what I'd like to do a better job with. I'd like to work out a better system for growing the strawberries that keeps them off the ground but is easy for harvesting or netting. At the moment my yield is enough for a handful for breakfast every other day, but I'd like to harvest enough to make jam or share as a dessert.

I've grown less runners and more broadies this year, but that may backfire. I suspect we may become rather fed up of broadies before too long.

I grew less of a range of squashes and courgettes, and I'm rather regretting that. I do love my babies.

I'd like to get my fruit bushes and raspberries better established and sited.

But otherwise, so far so good this year. But it's early days.

[Baldy]

Broad beans - don't really like them - this year seemed to get a bad aphid infestation and didn't come to much anyway - so will just concentrate on french and runners

Peas - other than mangetoute - possibly the dry conditions have seen a pretty poor crop so I might not bother next year. On the other hand my neighbour gets success most years by digging a hole, chucking peas in aforementioned hole, covering, watering once and leaving them to it... perhaps that should be my modus operandi next year.

[bikermike]

Nothing is going to be eradicated, but
Raspberries to be ruthlessly pruned and removed

Asparagus to be investigated - if it didn't come up in year one, is it likely to come up in year two? I've had possibly three crowns (out of ten) actually put up shoots.

[Thelma Sanders]

When I moved plots I inherited what appeared in March to be a nicely pruned immaculate 24ft x 4ft long raspberry bed, now it's grown - it's a monster that's trying to escape into the grass paths, with a lot of growth and very few flowers/berries, but memory tells me they aren't autumn fruiting types
At the very least they'll need a good thinning out, half might even get evicted - I'll wait and see if they do have any more fruit on later.

[HoneyChild]

Peas. Sad as it is the amount of space they take up for the amount of time podding and the amount of space I can afford to give them doesn't make them space or time efficient for the yield we get. So this year they didn't go in and the space was taken over by more new potatoes.

Have you tried growing mangtout? You eat the whole pod so there's no prep involved.