What lessons have you learnt from this years growing

[morverngirl]

I have now had my plot for a year.I did not start to grow anything until Spring although my seedlings were waiting to go in. The weather last summer was soooo dry that it was impossible to touch the soil.
Today ,I was making a note for my gardening log about my mistakes and what I would do differently when I thought what can I also learn from others mistakes.
This year has been a trial,working out what has done well or not, but it was also about how I set out my plot, time of sowing/planting etc.
I planted my brussels (25 plants) then covered with netting, but i also grew J artichokes alongside and nastursiums, so i couldn't get to plants to weed or remove old leaves, as i was crawling around underneath and getting covered in white fly ,I made a mental note to do differently next year.
Lets hear what you would do differently next year

[Gurberly]

Beans... plant more beans!!!

You can't go wrong with beans

As to the main learning point..... patience. You don't have to sow everything at the same time

G

[VirginVegGrower]

Never to grow chard. Grow what you like to eat and however many courgette plants you sow and subsequently plant you will always end up with a glut - keep that soup recipe handy.

[pauco]

Watch &try to learn at what Mother Nature throws at you, then keep your fingers crossed

paul.

[taff]

grow more bee flowers, and make a habitat they like. Nothing has suffered for want of pollination this year.
the rain will batter beds into rock hardness over winter, so lightly dig and put more compost on specific places rather than all over, depending on what was grown in them.
Preparation, get your seed packets in monthly order and keep a separate lot for succession sowing.
take the time to actually eat what you're growing, I've only just started eating salads this year, the lettuce have bolted but the toms are just ripening.
don't stuff too much in the greenhouse because you wont be able to reach to pick ripe things without knocking off flowers from other things.
Never grow any cucumber that needs male flowers removing, grow the italian one which is full of prickles, but never bitter.

[cardiffsteve]

Never to grow chard.

Whats wrong with chard?

What i've learnt,
Keep an eye on what your growing and make sure you water carefully. Dont let plants run to seed.
Plant lots of beans and successional sowing.

Roll on next year and try again.

Also dont get disheartened

[horticultural_hobbit]

Be organised, and keep your enthusiasm level.
Ignoring the dates on the seedpacket can either be amazing, or just plain stupid.
Plant chillies earlier, use Dad's semi transparent garden waste bags as mini green houses.
Write stuff down, build up your observation base.
Listen to the familia, they will eat what they want, if you've sown it.
Butternuts need an experimental study on a lab scale
There is both an art and science to rearing aubergines
Pumpkins are all right. Microwaveable one's next year.
Arranging dalliances between curcurbits takes some doing.
Want nigel's outdoor chilli, try again in January.
Tomatoes, don't start them too early
Use what you know now, to get better next time

[morverngirl]

I certainly agree with patience, my hands were itching to sow, then i had lots of plants that i couldn't plant either through being to early with the threat of frosts or no space

[Snadger]

Make sure you can harvest raspberries from both sides of row. Had my rasps along the side of my plot shaded by next doors shed. Could only harvest half the rasps.

This year they will have a 4 foot wide bed about 12 foot long and with 2 foot wide paths all around them, put somewhere where they won't shade other crops!

Will also try and incorporate other soft fruit within my higgledy piggledy pocket planting regime.

[binley100]

Just cos something did rubbish one year doesn't meant it will be rubbish the next and likewise just cos something did fantastic one year doesn't mean it'll be fantastic the next.

[Ananke]

Experimenting is great fun, try something new every year
Successional sowing is a must for certain veg
Coriander grows best in the ground outside
Take more pictures
Keep a diary
Weeds love empty beds
Don't leave digging 'till the last minute

[Plot1]

Don't cut corners. Not earthing up potatoes as much as I should have resulted in a whole load of inedible green potatoes. Won't make that mistake next year.

When buying a hosepipe ensure that it is not just long enough but also thick enough to allow the water pressure to be sufficient to reach the extremities of the plot.

Organically grown and freshly dug up radishes are one of lifes most underrated pleasures.

[Two_Sheds]

This year I refined my composting technique (it's not really a technique, it's just down to laziness)

Most people try & "turn" their compost heaps ~ my bad back won't let me, so I just lift off the lid (I use daleks), resite it and refill.

For the last few years I've been careful to site the dalek where I actually want my compost, so that I don't have to carry it all about the plot (too heavy).

this year I didn't even bother raking out the mounds I was left with (I was too busy). Some of them I planted a cuke or a squash on top of ~ this wasn't wholly successful because the mounds dry out quick, and my soil is already sandy and free-draining.

Some of them I just left for the birds to rake through, and they did a fair job of scattering the new compost for me. What was left was probably just a one foot high pile of good compost which was very easy to knock about with a rake. This might not be tidy and neat, but it works for me

TWO-SHEDS' PATENTED LAZY COMPOSTING METHOD

- put your dalek where you want your finished compost to go
- with every bucket of weeds you put in, add a can of water too
- push it all down at the sides
- when the dalek really is full and you can't push it down any more, lift the whole thing up and off
- if it's really wet, let it dry off for a couple of days
- resite it & start to fill with the uncomposted stuff and big lumps of stalk that you hadn't bothered to break up
- rake the good stuff out as and when you can be bothered, or just plant something straight into it

[taff]

experiment anyway, even if you've been told it wont work, because you won't listen until you've done it yourself and know it won't work

[reetnproper]

When you're trimming dead and dying foliage and vines off your cucumber plants, make sure that you don't cut the vine OFF the main stem BEFORE checking that there isn't a perfectly healthy cucumber growing on it

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