peculiar or what?

[BUFFS]

sorry if I am repeating someone else's thread but it has been a very odd year, some things were great, some okay, but some bl***y awful. for me they were as follows:-

great...
blackcurrants
gooseberries
rhubarb
raspberries
plums
apricots

okay...
tomatoes
cauliflower
spinach
kale
peppers
blueberries

poor...
carrots
onions
strawberries
peas
peaches
beetroot
French beans
courgettes
squashes
apples
pears

this has been the first time in 30 odd years that the poor results have outnumbered the successes in the garden, and it has been all down to the peculiar weather, where we went from icy nights, mid july , to cold, damp, dark summer days in a matter of 2 days, where the peaches gave up the ghost, even in a greenhouse, after each cold night a few more dropped off, until there were none left, in mid summer? I am hoping for better next year as this one has been the pits. I may send off for a Japanese bitter orange tree to plant out as they seem to be immune to the poor summers, and this may be the guiding thread as global warming is like david Cameron, totally ignores Scotland, one is a bonus the other is not and as 2006 was our last "good" summer we should be due one about now. even the local show benches were unusually sparsely filled this year so hopefully things will improve next year...

[Alison]

Interesting that the things you said did really badly tend to be the things that have done best for me eg beans, peas, strawberries, apples, onions and carrots. Tomatoes gave been a bit rubbish though, some plants still to start ripening!

[Martin H]

My successes are the same as Alison's, plus runner beans, cabbages and potatoes. It's the tomatoes and squashes that have suffered in this neck of the woods.

[BUFFS]

it has been the staples that always produce that failed this year, we had our first frosts last august (earliest yet) and our last frosts in the second week of july this year, so that was some loooooong winter, if, just if, we were to get an occasional summer like that, that would be nice....

[rary]

I have had good results with beetroot, peas, broad beans, cabbage and runner beans, and apples, but have had to wait a lot longer than normal, my tomatoes are now starting to ripen so the cold weather may stop them.
But, come next year

[BUFFS]

sorry to say rary, but I read in todays paper that the weather for at least the next two years will be colder than at present, lets hope they are as accurate as they usually are, so as we are in the same neck of the woods, don't throw any warm jumpers away just yet as we might need them when checking the garden for slugs and polar bears...

[BUFFS]

we have now had over a week of good weather and the difference to the taste of the plums is amazing, what a bit of sun finally does to improve things..