Best and Worst 2009

[mogs]

Ok, Christmas meal devoured, pots washed - Christmas DONE!

Now looking forward to a new growing year and just thinking about
the best and worst of my crops for 2009 - here's my scores on the doors - how was it for you?

BEST

Blackcurrants
Brocolli
Duke of York Potatoes
Blueberries
Gooseberries
Garlic
Runner Beans
Broad Beans

WORST

Parsnips - Canker
Onions - Downy Mildew
Sweetcorn - Squirrels
Leeks - Rust

Must improve in 2010!

[matthew2riches]

Sounds like you had a good year to me!

[SarzWix]

Best:

Beans
Peas
Carrots (first crop from the ground rather than pots - no carrot fly due to Enviromesh over whole bed)
Cabbages
Broccoli/Calabrese - still cropping!

Ok-ish:

Potatoes - no blight on Sarpos, but low yield
Onions - only about a third flowered, but haven't stored brilliantly.
Tomatoes - got scorched when small, so lower yield
Cucumbers - same as tomatoes

Rubbish:

Sweetcorn - didn't get a single plant to survive!
Melons - not a single fruit
Chillis and Peppers - suffered from my broken ankle - didn't get potted up, or the care they needed.



With being on crutches (and the sofa) for a large part of the growing season, I'm really chuffed with what we did get from the plots. Getting anything at all was a bonus, and testament to the work of my OH and a couple of friends, and my determination not to be beaten! It will all be better this year (touching wood & God willing!!).

[northmaid]

Best
Potatoes (and soooo many of them)
Sweetcorn (read somewhere that the first sowings often fail, so did two lots and guess what - both survived with at least 3 cobs per plant)
Garlic
Sprouts (envy of some of the more experienced growers)

Worst
Red onions (white were OK, but the red where hardly bigger at harvest than when the sets were put in)
Peas (I love peas but mine were a complete failure, not even enough to bring home from the lotty)
Outdoor tomatoes (tried just one plant and got 3 toms. It's too cold here but now I have a greenhouse, just wait til next year!).

[ladylottie]

Best

Raspberries (Masses and masses of lucious fruit)
Broad Beans
Climbing French beans
Peas
Sprouts (but not enough of them!)
Cabbage
Sprouting Broccoli
Turnips
Parsnips
Beetroot
Sweetcorn
Courgette
Leeks (But not enough of them!)
Garlic

Ok - ish

Swede
Runner beans

Worst

Onions (too small)
Shallots (too small)
Carrots (horrible soapy taste - had to throw them all away )
Pak Choi (didn't like it much anyway)
Dwarf French Beans (eaten by slugs)


But on the whole, not a bad year.

[Amberlilly]

With my friend, this was our first year on our allotment, i think we did really well.
Loads of runner beans
Lovely lettuces, i think the envy of the allotments
Bountyful Courgetts
Beautiful sweetcorn
Dwarf Beans were scrummy
Non stop corriander
Unfortunately
we had awful spuds
brocolli
cauli
but defintely not complaining, i think we did great!

[miffy]

Best:
Onions, onions, onions, of every colour, size and flavour and my garlic which the allotment secretary said ' i don't know how you newbies do it, yours is ten times better than me i suppose you are so ignorant that you don't worry so much about getting it right and that means you do!' what a superb back handed compliment!!
Sweetcorn, de - li - cious!! but not enough of it, more this year.
Worst.
Potatoes, wilt!!

[lynda66]

best ... pickled onions and beetroot

worst ... hmmm everything else

next year i'm growing flowers

[Jillyreeves]

Success
Runner Beans
French Beans
Tomatoes
Desire Potatoes
Spring Onions
Onion Sets
Courgettes
Beetroot
Peppers
Chillis
Jerusalem Artichokes

Disasters
Peas - got eaten by rouge sheep
Landcress - caterpillar food
Sweetcorn - planted out far too late as land was not ready so consequently failed
Swift Potatoes - inexperience and over enthusiastic earthing up killed them
Aubergines - plenty of flowers but never set fruit
Cabbage - as per Landcress
Butternut Squash - fruits rotted
Celeriac - planted out to late never managed to put on any size

[Glutton4...]

Best things;
Tomatoes - loads
Runner Beans - also loads
Early spuds - yummy
Late spuds - yummy but low yield
Peas - but no-where near enough
Carrots - delish
Leeks - still in ground but looking good

Worst things;
Sweetcorn - lack of water I guess
Brassicas - ditto above
Squashes - dunno!

Notes to self;
Net everything
Sow more Peas
Set up irrigation system
remember successional sowings
have less unproductive soil

[RedThorn]

best :-

Peas
Beans
Courgettes
second earlies
red cabbages
parsnips

Ok
Toms
Chillis
cucumbers
oinions (not many planted and some seeds never germinated as chickens ate them)


Disasters
main crop
caulis again!
my hsl peas and beans... chickens again