1st Time Successes.

[T8Ter]

For me - Elephant garlic, great size bulbs and the flower heads were magnificent on them, attracted all sorts of bees etc.

[pipkins]

Very pleased with everything so far, but this is my first full year of growing, very pleased with last year too.

[donnakebab]

Thanks for the link regarding courgette - to - marrow. I only joined yesterday. As it's the first time i've grown them I am still facinated by the growth rate. I have 4 on my allotment and I suspect that very soon I will struggle to carry them. However, have lots of pickle and chutney recipes to keep me busy. Next year I won't raise so many plants. 6 is deffinately over the top!

[DLittlewood]

thanks for the thread Bigmally, my biggest success has to be cucumbers! They are B&Qs own for indoor and I have 3 in the greenhouse which are rampant and loaden with fruits! Its great plus, 1 I planted outside (thought it was a courgette!) and that has given me 3 lovely cuc's too. Ive bought a mini variety for next year can't wait to see how they grow Dena

[binley100]

Gherkins........

but also shallots, garlic in fact everything is doing well this year apart from the runners which kept getting noshed but now even they have started climbing so weather permitting who knows what may happen.....

....oh apart from carrots

[sewer rat]

Chioggia beetroot - first time growing it and it has produced a brilliant crop - shame cause I tried some and can't stand it so have given it all away. Will stick to normal beetroot from now on.
Sweet Peppers - absolutely amazing - bought a packet from Lidl of California Wonder (28p) - got 30off plants from it - planted into soil in the polytunnel and then ignored other than an occassional overhead watering. I know conventional wisdom says no more than 5 fruits per plant - well I have picked about 60 large well developed peppers so far and the plants are groaning under the weight of more to come - even won 1st, 2nd and 3rd in my local show with them.
Zinnia - slow starters but picking a bucketful of flowers every week for the last three weeks to keep OH happy.
Chinese Asters -similar to the Zinnia but even slower to start -just coming into flower now but again, loads of flowerheads so well chuffed.

[Brengirl]

and I'm still waiting Roll on 2011

[arpoet]

We are excited by the parsnips growing in an old wardrobe as they are doing wonderful and leeks in old kitchen units doing well too.

[chris]

For me, it's pretty much everything i'm growing.. as I've never grown *anything* from seed before. I've had good sucess with carrots really tasty, and suprisingly straigh, parnsips (!) - have one about softball size in diameter (6/7 inches?), PSB, Kale, peas, beans to name a few!

[Speed Gardener]

Firt time for me with mange tout peas this year. I got some yellow climbing ones, Golden Sweet, from Real Seeds. Excellent! Also grew tall normal peas, Champion of England and Ne Plus Ultra, very good too. In fact, I'll be growing more tall peas than dwarf ones next year, mainly because you don't have to give yourself a bad back picking them, but also because they seem to crop in less of a rush, so the two hour shucking session at midnight will be a thing of the past!

[Bigmallly]

It's fab to hear such great successes & not so many failures, my Marketmore cucs are now starting to go mad, producing 2/3 pickable (is that a word) size everyday. I reckon the vine has had a huge part to play in everyones 1st time successes so I'm proposing a toast to the vine.

[cupcake]

Has to be Swiss chard, Blue lake climbing french beans and Roma tomatoes. DON'T talk to me about courgettes! I've had 3 off 3 plants!

[Jeanied]

It's fab to hear such great successes & not so many failures, my Marketmore cucs are now starting to go mad, producing 2/3 pickable (is that a word) size everyday. I reckon the vine has had a huge part to play in everyones 1st time successes so I'm proposing a toast to the vine.

I second that. Cheers to the vine!

[gojiberry]

Being so long in the tooth it is difficult to find something I haven't grown before. However I have grown sweetcorn for the first time for about 10years and am really pleased with the result so will definitely be growing again next year.

Ian

[Parsleythelion]

My first year of GYO and so far I have had great successes (and some failures). I have thoroughly enjoyed the time and effort I had to put in but the rewards are well deserved and satisfying. (Sorry this is longer than I thought it would be!)

Successes

Courgettes and Marrows (when left) (All Green Bush)
Runner Beans (Scarlett Emperor) - picked and frozen for another day, plus still fruiting
Peas (Avola) bush variety and a couple of meals from those
Peas (Onward) lots of meals from those
Boston Beans (bush) meals and frozen
Hestia Runner Beans (bush) meals, frozen and still growing
Squash - Scallop meals and still growing
Potatoes - really impressed with these (Carlingford) - about 30+ potatoes and still fertling (Duke of York) 30+ potatoes and (Maris Piper) still in the bags waiting to furtle
Lettuce (Little Gem) - many meals
Spring Onions - (White Lisbon) many meals
Cucumber - (Marketmore) lots of lovely cucs (my personal favourite success story)
Carrots - Parmex (grown in a plater)
Beetroots - (Bolthardy)

Failures

Chard - Bolted
Pak Choi - Bolted
P*****ps - failed to grow :-(
Carrots - (Early Nantes) and (Amsterdam forcing) planted with manure and didn't grow

Unknown

PSB - Huge plant that has been in the ground since May and waiting to see the results.

Not bad for a first attempt and in a previous neglected garden. Thanks for all the advice from the Grapes, I may not have aksed many questions, but there is lots of advice already stored over the years.