What's in, What's out for next year?

[Penellype]

I had problems with my Red Barons too, Penellype. They produced hard stalks and didn't grow very big. The onions themselves are lovely and crisp, though.

Yes, no issues with the actual taste or texture of the onions, although they are much more inclined to hurt my eyes when I peel them than Sturon.

[Noosner]

Yes, no issues with the actual taste or texture of the onions, although they are much more inclined to hurt my eyes when I peel them than Sturon.

The other onions I grew this year were Centurion and they came out a lot bigger - but quite tough skinned. I'm still searching for the perfect onion for Yorkshire clay soil!

[Penellype]

I find Sturon suits me fine - they are not the biggest but some of mine are about 3 inches across this year. They are not too strong, have a lovely sweet taste and keep upto 12 months. What more could you want from an onion?

[Strawberry patch]

OUT
blackcurrant

IN
Strawberries
Potatoes
Peas
Raspberries
Gooseberries
Blackberries

[NatalieCooke]

Out:
Tomatoes - Moneymakers
Melons - Johnson Arava
Chillies

In:
Tomatoes: Ailsa Craig, Tigerella, Beefmaster & Perdro (I can't find much info on this tom tho)
Sweetcorn (Agnes)
Spring Onion ( White Lisbon)
Rocket
Leeks (Musselburgh)
Sweet peppers (Yolo Wonder)
Lettuce Little Gem
Melon Antalya F1
Melon ( Jaune Canari) I'm not sure if this will even grow in the UK.
Maris Piper

[catgirl]

OUT

Any sort of pea - just not worth the space needed to grow a good amount when I can buy peas cheap in the shops.

Sweet peppers - I've had loads of fun trying to grow these but the insects get to them before I can. Mountains of small, immature peppers have had to be discarded because of the holes bored in them by the little creatures. And at the end of the day I don't eat that many of them anyway.


IN

Mangetout peas (Kennedy). It'll be my first year of growing these but I'm hoping they will give me more veg than normal peas.

Celeriac - hard to find in the shops and oh so good in soups (especially pea soup!). And they're growing really well for me this year.

Leeks & onions - have been really impressed with these so far. Obviously the leeks aren't ready yet but it's one more thing to start off in the winter when not much else can be sown.

[Gina's plot]

Out asparagus peas horrid yuck!


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[WPG]

OUT

Dwarf pea (Lincoln) - take up too much bed-space for not much yield

Strawberries - lost 90% to slugs and birds

Summer purple sprouting broccolli (Santee)- does taste delicious, but much too quick to bolt


IN

Alderman peas - I love height on the plot and these are over 6 foot, with a continuous crop

Courgette Rugosa friulina - taste delicious, and doesn't turn into marrows when your back's turned

Broad beans : Very pleased with White Windsors and pink Karmazyn, will grow both varieties again

[Greenleaves]

Out asparagus peas horrid yuck!


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Remind me of dog chews....

[chris]

Well... those bloomin' atena courgetts.. talk about heavy croppers. I'm getting 6 odd per plant per day. Shall grow them again next year - hopefully when I have a chest freezer

Out - the stash of beans I thought were climbers, but are all dwarfs. My bean sticks look rediculous!

[Bill HH]

Just thinking about the decisions we make, you have a bad crop of something and then its out! but vegetables seem to have good and bad years and its worth giving stuff another chance. this year my onions have been superb but the garlic was hopeless, may be next year it will be the other way round.

[Penellype]

Absolutely agree Bill - I choose to ditch things on the basis of flavour or practicality. This year I had space to experiment because I was using my friend's garden, and therefore I tried things that I would not have attempted if I had not had the extra space - aubergine, purple mangetout, cucumbers, cauliflowers, calabrese, red cabbage. Of these, the aubergine and cauliflower were abject failures, dying far too easily in the best conditions I could give them. The purple mangetout simply tasted nasty so they are an easy out. The cucumber and calabrese exceeded my wildest expectations and taste gorgeous, so they are definitely in, and space will have to be found. The red cabbage (Kalibos) are growing well but are not ready yet. They are huge plants and unless they are fabulous they will have to go next time for that reason.

I also decided to attempt to expand on my usual repertoire of Sturon onions by adding Red Baron, Hurst Greenshaft and Meteor peas by adding Early Onward and Geisha, and Green Bush courgettes by adding Goldmine and Piccolo. Red Baron appear to have no advantages over Sturon and they bolt far too easily, although to be fair the bolted ones do form half an onion. They don't keep though, and I need keepers, so they are out. The early onward peas were awful. Grown in exactly the same conditions as Meteor and Hurst Greenshaft, they produced about 10% germination and the pods were filled with air - some were completely empty. I grow peas for the freezer, and this lack of crop has meant I have hardly frozen any this year, so early Onward are out. Geisha are a late variety and are just starting to flower, but are currently looking promising and much better than my previous attempts at late peas.

As for the courgettes, I love the Goldmine, and am not over fussed about the Piccolo, so with less space available I will ditch the Piccolo next year. Green bush is very reliable and produces bigger fruit than Goldmine, so I will keep those for making soup.

[morverngirl]

In- Tomatoes, San Marzano and Sungold, plus grafted Toms- no disease and twice size of other plants.
Out- Honeyberry (but as I have 4 bushes I guess I'll keep trying) Bitter +++++. Cheap G&T's
Cucamelon, crunchy but not to my taste.

[elleme]

In: I tried growing Angelle supermarket tomatoes as an experiment. They have been greedy, thirsty triffids, but the tomatoes came out more or less true to type and tasty with a decent yield so far. I will save some seed and do a mix of them and Gardeners Delight next year. Also I'll carry on with growing cayennes. I had a couple of overwinter plants which I wasn't sure was worthwhile, but they cropped much more heavily this year and I'll have a decent amount for drying.

Out: potatoes, unless I either start using beer traps or organic pellets to control snails in my garden. They decimated my Vivaldis and I got a really small yield. Also out is another supermarket experiment, this time with peppers. The yield wasn't worth the effort. Vietnamese coriander is out as it keeps wilting despite supplementary watering and I haven't acquired a taste for it.

[Bex]

Also out on their ear next year is Dwarf French Beans. Piddly little harvest and they take up loads of room.