What has had/is having it's last chance? What are you giving up growing next year?

[Bonjour]

I lied. I just looked back at my records and found our first picking of the Scorpio aubergines was 5 fruit on the 31st of July.

[Bren In Pots]

They do look good Bonjour I gave up with aubergines after failing miserably trying to grow Black Beauty.

[SimpleSimon]

I grow my Sweetcorn in the same way and although I got a good crop I've never been able to get two good cobs from one plant. Do you think it's the chicken manure pellets? I usually manure (delivered from a dairy farm) in the autumn and leave it at that. I usually grow Swift or Lark.

Not sure. I was late sorting that bed so didn't really dig it and just threw a few handfuls of pellets down as it was looking tired. It's pretty heavy clay. Plants were no trouble and planted about 30cm apart which seemed quite dense (I didn't have enough space for all plants but didn't want to get rid). Maybe try that variety next year.

[Peteyd]

For me, its last chance saloon for carrots. I never seem to have a good germination rate and those that do manage to grow always are either tiny or so badly disfigured that you can't actually do anything with them apart from enter them into the "strange shaped veg" category at the village show...


Ever since we have lived in our current house, I've also struggled with beans (runner, broad, peas - all various varieties), so they're rapidly heading to the "not worth the hassle" list.

[muck lover]

I'm reducing the courgettes down to two plants next year. I find it difficult not to plant out every single plant I raise but we dont really like them that much and even my chickens aren't keen. Also I will reduce kale plantings. This year the chickens had most of it (and loved it) but the humans dont really like it. I might plant a few for the spring shoots and to please the chooks. This year I dug up a jostaberry that has never fruited along with a pinkcurrant that also never produced much. I wont plant more than three cabbages at a time as those lucky chickens got the extras when I overplanted. Although this year I've started making sauerkraut so I might not be wasting so many next year. Of course theres only so much sauerkraut one family can eat.
This year I successfully grew white turnips for the first time (thank you Charles Dowding) but most of the MuckLover family isnt keen. BUT they make a good spiced soup so we will see for next year.
Next year I will definitely stagger cucumber plantings as we just couldnt manage the quantities produced.
All my potatoes will probably have to be in pots next year and I mightn't bother with main crop spuds. We aren't great potato eaters and the maincrop ones are full of little holes. I dont know if its slugs or wireworms but the young mucklovers make an awful fuss if they find a creature or even a hole in their spud and theres a whole scene.
I am distressed at those grapes who are rejecting broad beans. I am planting more of these lovlies every year. Big starchy beans with chewy skins! I love.....

[ameno]

I've decided I'm also getting rid of my goji berry.
It's a brute of a plant, and has only just started producing fruit right at the very end of summer (both this year and last), despite flowering non-stop from July - all the early flowers just fail to develop for some reason. The fruit it does produce aren't even that nice: they're kind of insipid, and if you get them even slightly underripe they are bitter.
I'll have it out this winter, and replace it with a cutting or two from my Muscat Bleu grape vine, which has done very well this year, producing half a dozen bunches which should ripen in a couple weeks time, despite only having been planted this year, and despite having had its early growth frosted and thus not flowering until July.

[monkeyboy]

Veg I’ve already given up on: lettuce, radishes, kale, spinach, cauliflower, aubergine, onion, mangetout.

Last chance: sweetcorn, carrots

(The only veg I seem to have recurrent success with is calabrese, garlic, and potatoes).

[Gordon the gardener]

No broad beans next year, I can't bear the horror of the blackfly anymore. This year I got about 3 single meals out of my 20 plants before they were killed off.

And sweet peppers and aubergines seem to require a lot of pampering for middling results. (But then I see a fellow allotmenteer's row after row of beautiful white and purple aubergines with huge fruits, all grown outside, and think that it must be possible...)

I overwinter my broad beans and never have a problem with black fly because they come out the end of May or early June. My neighbour puts his in in February and his get covered.

[Gordon the gardener]

Just pulled out my outdoor tomatoes as they had signs of blight. That’s decided it. No outdoor tomatoes next year. My greenhouse tomatoes grow well and give me loads.

You could try one of the Crimson range originated by Suttons, the fruits really do not get affected by blight, you get some on the leaf which you then remove. There are three or four different ones now from cherry to beefsteak

[MelanieSW]

I overwinter my broad beans and never have a problem with black fly because they come out the end of May or early June. My neighbour puts his in in February and his get covered.

Sadly it doesn't seem to make much difference on my allotment. I have only ever grown overwintered broad beans, pinched out growing tips, washed them off with a watering hose followed by dish washing liquid spray. The little devils are just stronger. The only people around here who manage to grow broad beans really successfully seem to all be using pesticides.

[Grafitti]

My loganberry vine will likely get pulled up this year, been 4 years now and never more than a handful of flavourless berries.
I've never been very successful with peas.
Ever bearing strawberries are also being removed this year, so few ripen at once that I can't keep the slugs, woodlice and rats away. I'll focus on June strawberries that produce in quantity and can be frozen for use throughout the year, and my new favourite, framberries

[elleme]

I'm in the no more broad beans camp too. Also I tried malabar spinach last year for the first time and they grew very slowly so I won't bother again.

[Nicos]

Watermelons....they need far too much water

[Babru]

Wow, I love broad beans, and they do fine for me. They seem so easy, it's surprising to hear that others don't find the same.

I do think that geography must have a lot to do with it. I looked up the location of the grape having great success with aubergines - Alderney. Hmm, so not Edinburgh....perhaps I won't give that a go!

This year I won't be growing any chillies. They are very decorative plants, and I get loads of chillies, but I don't find I use many. I'll use the spot in the greenhouse for some more snack peppers. I had a good crop last year, despite a fairly average summer (up in Scotland).

[elleme]

This year I won't be growing any chillies. They are very decorative plants, and I get loads of chillies, but I don't find I use many. I'll use the spot in the greenhouse for some more snack peppers. I had a good crop last year, despite a fairly average summer (up in Scotland).

I did well with snack peppers too although they were in a London greenhouse and we had some heatwave weather so that's more to be expected. They were from supermarket peppers and turned out much tastier than their parents.