Opinions on a bad year, please

[MrsCordial]

Hello. This has been a pretty bum year for me in the veg patch. I can point to a number of issues, and I'd really appreciate it if people could give me their opinion as to which are red herrings and which are an issue:

In January this year FIL asked DH & I to take over the running of his company. We did, and started an offshoot. This means we're now running three companies, so time and mental energy have been harder to find and the veg patch has not had the level of maintenance I would usually put in. That said, I'm not someone who micromanages their plants at the best of time so I wonder how much difference this has really made.

I bought heritage varieties this year - do they take more looking after and are they naturally more risky? I wonder if they're only for the really dedicated gardener?

I started things too early (I think is a top contender). I couldn't hold back and had ridiculous amounts of things on the go by April. Plants weren't getting enough light and were leggy by the time they went out. I delayed putting things out as the cold wet weather really lingered in Herefordshire and I have no greenhouse.

So whaddya think? Shall I just buy ALDI seeds next year, hold off sowing til May and try to grow fewer varieties?

[VolesAteMyPeas]

Very sorry to hear that. Is nothing doing well? It would be useful to know what you've been growing. Regarding the sowing time, I'm in N Wales on an exposed plot so things tend to be slow to get going here. I started sowing direct in March ( beet root, chard and carrots) . Only the chard germinated. I sowed again in May it it all came up right away. Maybe the soil was still a bit cold for you. What kind if soil do you have there? All in all, I find some years are just rubbish no matter what I do. Maybe you had one of those. Not too late to plant a few things now though if you have time! Hope things look up.

[veggiechicken]

I don't think you can blame Heritage seeds. Whatever the seed, it needs the right sowing dates/conditions etc.
Sowing too early looks like the problem -especially if you don[t have a GH or somewhere to grow them on. Start later next year - maybe stagger your sowings to give you a breathing space.
Look at low-maintenance ways of gardening perhaps - if you don't do this already.

[Guykp57]

Has anybody had problem with onions or their beetroot this year, last year great return considering I only took over plot in May just threw everything in and prayed. This year planned it all out but onions and beetroot have given me no return just a jar and half of beetroot balls and from 150 onions I,ve had about 50 which I can use for anything mainly chutney. Maybe to much planning things out. Live in North Wales so not sure if things went in to early or late with weather all over the place.


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[Guykp57]

I don't think you can blame Heritage seeds. Whatever the seed, it needs the right sowing dates/conditions etc.
Sowing too early looks like the problem -especially if you don[t have a GH or somewhere to grow them on. Start later next year - maybe stagger your sowings to give you a breathing space.
Look at low-maintenance ways of gardening perhaps - if you don't do this already.

Should have waited till VC had replied, he knows his onions..sorry very bad joke.


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[MrsCordial]

I wasn't trying to blame them VC, just wondered if I hadn't realised that they needed more care than I found myself able to give. The only thing at blame here is me! I'll definitely start later next year, except for aubergines.

Voles - what haven't I grown this year?! Tomatoes - I have a handful ripening but lots of flowers. The plants themselves look so sickly, which I've never had before, but then I've never raised them from seed before. Usuallyfor all plants I buy seedlings or sow direct. This has been my first year using cell trays. Our soil's pretty good. We're in the midst of good arable land here, and Herefordshire soil is known for being pretty good.

I've also grown:

courgette (doing ok)
pumpkin (plant looks okay but nothing much looking germinated)
cucumbers (all dead)
melothrie (alive but struggling to make it past seedling stage)
carrots (more or less all failed to come through)
peas (a few did okay but much smaller plants than I expected)
beans (again tiny short plants)
kohl rabi (two have germinated, one is forming a fruit)
glove artichokes (plants are alive but small and not doing much)
beetroot (have been in stasis for weeks. Small.)
parsnips (not doing badly - they did well last year too)
aubergines (smallish but setting flowers)
onions (have done surprisingly well)
garlic (one I pulled a few weeks ago hadn't formed cloves but tasted okay)
purslane (disappeared without trace - I may have weeded it out, oops)
lettuce (not too bad, but small)
spinach (didn't do much)
kale (one set has come up and is okay, but again smaller than I expected)
salsola (not sure what to expect - has come up in bunches)

Can't think of anything else - other things are left over from last year (eg potatoes) or ends of things I've stuck in the soil, such as celery.

[Greenleaves]

For me one of the great joys of gardening is the trial and error aspect, you can sow on the same day each year and still get varying results. I know so many people this year who have struggled with carrots but an equal amount who are doing really well.

I make minor adjustments each year but also sow back up seeds using different methods to see what works for me. I have inherited the growing diary gene from my grandad which in essence is my bible.

I have had two bad years in a row with onions but hopefully next year will be a bumper crop. Keep on going you never know what tomorrow holds

[Noosner]

Not sure I can give you any advice, but quite a few folks down at our allotments are complaining about a bad year and apart from the retired folks who go down every day and can really keep an eye on things, people's plots don't look good.

I'm beginning to think that the weather this year (extremes of heat and wet) has militated against us folks who haven't been able to pay full attention.

My little veggie garden at home has been great this year and really productive - but then it is just outside the back door so very easy to monitor. I can only get to the allotment once a week and the gap has meant that nearly everything there has gone wrong!

Potatoes - have only just started digging these up but so far only had about twenty spuds from eight plants.
Garlic - small. It did form cloves but most if it also formed a hard stem and a bulbil about 8" above the main bulb.
Broad beans - these did okay considering I didn't do anything to them except plant and leave.
Peas - all munched by rabbits.
French and runner beans - all munched by rabbits except one solitary bean that seems to be doing okay. My second planting didn't come up.
Brassicas, three plantings - all eaten, not sure by whom.
Swede seedlings - eaten.
Globe artichokes - good.
Raspberries - pretty good.
Strawberries - all eaten (probably by rabbits. I didn't even get one!)
Recurrants and goosberries - very good.
Rhubarb - good.
Sweetcorn - just didn't grow.
Pear tree - has three pears. This is three more than ever before, so I'm pleased!
Squashes and pumpkins - some of these are doing really well and trying to take over the world.
Courgettes - at last these are growing really well.
Onions - red onions didn't grow, white onions look okay but I didn't plant enough.
Beetroot - 2 sowings and a set of seedlings just seemed to vanish into thin air.

I'm going to go back to basics next year at the allotment and just plant spuds, broad beans, onions and pumpkins, all things rabbits seem less interested in, and try and do them well. I'm also going to divide my globe artichoke and plant another apple tree. The contrast between garden and lottie this year has convinced me that the only things I should try to grow on lottie are things that can be safely ignored.

[ButternutSquash]

Has anybody had problem with onions or their beetroot this year, last year great return considering I only took over plot in May just threw everything in and prayed. This year planned it all out but onions and beetroot have given me no return just a jar and half of beetroot balls and from 150 onions I,ve had about 50 which I can use for anything mainly chutney. Maybe to much planning things out. Live in North Wales so not sure if things went in to early or late with weather all over the place.

My beetroot did nothing for ages. I sowed more and eventually they popped up. My dwarf beans took ages, and my mange touts struggled through weevil attacks. But my leeks and carrots are fantastic. I wondered if it was a bit dry early on, or the soil a bit cold.

[MrsCordial]

Thanks everyone. Noosner I'd completely forgotten about strawbs - we inherited quite a patch but they're getting old and I didn't weed or net them, so we had literally a couple each. Last year I was picking handfuls every morning for the children's lunchboxes.

I agree with going back to basics. I was thinking about it this morning as I ate my breakfast. Things like courgettes, kale, beans, herbs and tomatoes are core, and having lettuces to hand has been fantastic. We love having home-grown parsnips at Christmas and strawbs and rasps are great, we love having them and they can be expensive to buy. Aubergines are a pet of mine! Pumpkins are grown for fun. Garlic and onions are lovely to have on hand but we're never going to be self-sufficient in them, though I suppose we could be if I grew less of everything else.

Things though like artichokes, purslane, kohl rabi, carrots, beetroot and cucumbers are either unnecessary or things I've never really succeeded with. Next year I'm going to sow much more selectively. I know that what makes the real difference to me is going out and picking veg for my breakfast (I love egg and bacon or smoked haddock on a bed of veg) and then picking salad to go with supper. As long as I achieve that everything else is gravy.

[Bill HH]

It was cold at night right through may, things sown early did not do well, things sown much later out grew them quickly. That's the first thing, be patient. Second thing in your case being mega busy, just buy a lot of plants that others much better equipped have started for you, that cuts out a lot of work, time, and disappointment. I faffed about with cucumbers seeds this year, they grew an inch then just stuck there, in the end I bought 5 plants from the garden centre at about 90p each. Third thing is reduce your range, grow only what you eat.
Fourth, I am always suspicious of heritage varieties, plant breeders haven't spent the last 100 years making things worse, they have improved yield, disease resistance, and in some cases flavour.
Fifth, In general its been a bumper year for me and many others but you have to put the time in, watering is number one in this heat. Have you thought of automatic watering?
Sixth, there is no sixth thing.

Oh Sixth, consider soft fruit, raspberries, gooseberries , apples, plums etc, they pretty much look after themselves and the yields can be magnificent.

[arpoet]

I got a kilo of onion sets from the lottie society shop. I started em all off the same as I always do. planted half in a well prepared space in full sun, kept watered and fed and weed free. I planted a quarter of em in a semi shaded bit of soil I was leaving fallow and left em to it and gave the other quarter to my sister. My Main crop is tremendous, the other quarter is ok, but small and my sisters lot have done nowt.
Conclusion. Preparation of the soil and constant care after planting is the key

[Alison]

Fourth, I am always suspicious of heritage varieties, plant breeders haven't spent the last 100 years making things worse, they have improved yield, disease resistance, and in some cases flavour.

I'd not agree with that at all, breeders have, in most cases, bred things to benefit the commercial producer which is not any of us. I find that many of the modern varieties crop all at the same time rather than over an extended period for older varieties. Gluts are great for mechanised harvesting but not what is good for the average homeholder. There are obviously exceptions (nothing is every totally clear cut) but many heritage varieties have really stood the test of time and, especially if you can find ones that are based locally, will do really well in your given circumstances. Some of my best ones are from seeds I've saved for years which are really well adapted to my soils etc. In summary, I find that many heritage varieties take LESS time and attention (assuming you get the right ones for you) than the modern ones and almost always taste better.

[RaptorUK]

Conclusion. Preparation of the soil and constant care after planting is the key

This is what I have learned in relation to my Garlic . . . it looked good while growing but the bulb size was poor, I'm already planning how I will do better next season

[Alison]

I got a kilo of onion sets from the lottie society shop. I started em all off the same as I always do. planted half in a well prepared space in full sun, kept watered and fed and weed free. I planted a quarter of em in a semi shaded bit of soil I was leaving fallow and left em to it and gave the other quarter to my sister. My Main crop is tremendous, the other quarter is ok, but small and my sisters lot have done nowt.
Conclusion. Preparation of the soil and constant care after planting is the key

The conditions are very important, if not more important, too. Full sun against semi-shade cannot be equally compared.