What I'd like to grow next year, achievable?

[Newbiegrower1970]

I have worked out what i want to grow. I have a 5 rod allotment although actually about 4m x 20m which i took over a couple of months ago and a small garden where i can grow some things in pots. This year i grew tomatoes, chillies, courgettes, peppers and 1 aubergine in my garden.
Here is the list, anyone care to say whether they think it is doable?
Leeks 50
Cabbages 52
Tomatoes 150 lbs
Squash 30
Courgettes 200
Corn 20
Cucumbers 100
Broad beans 20 lbs
Sugar snap peas 4 lbs
Mange tout 4 lbs
Broccoli 10 plants
Sprouts 3 plants
Spring onions 100
Peppers 50
Lettuce 50
Green beans 10 lbs
Shallots 20 lbs

[veggiechicken]

A couple of questions!
Do you have a greenhouse - for the tomatoes and peppers?
How much do you like courgettes and cucumbers?

[Bigmallly]

It is doable but why you would want so much all at once beggers belief unless you are either selling or preserving. You need to consider successional sowings.

[Newbiegrower1970]

There is a greenhouse on the allotment but a lot of the glass is missing. I grew peppers and the 1 aubergine outdoors this year but they would be better in a greenhouse.

I didnt say i wanted it all at once, this is for the whole of next year. I estimate i'll use 1 cabbage a week, hence 52 cabbages.

We eat a lot of veg, and yes i love cucumbers and courgettes and i preserve stuff too

[Cadalot]

Cucumbers 100 is unrealistic for a family plot, I grew way to many and had to compost a load that went over ripe, the harvesting window is way to small outside 4 to 4-5 months and I have had better results outside than inside a greenhouse.

[Bigmallly]

I didnt say i wanted it all at once, this is for the whole of next year. I estimate i'll use 1 cabbage a week, hence 52 cabbages.

Hence the mention of successional sowings..............I wish you luck.

[Newbiegrower1970]

I don't follow yoir logic. 100 cucumbers is too many but you had too many and had to compost some.

[Newbiegrower1970]

Hence the mention of successional sowings..............I wish you luck.

Well obviously...

I'll also remember to feed and water, not plant on someone elses allotment and not stamp on the plants in hobnail boots

[veggiechicken]

I wish you luck too - and it might be better if you didn't stamp on Grapes this soon after joining the Vine!
If you're serious about growing 100 cucumbers and 200 courgettes have a read of http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ked_90218.html
The cropping window is June - October - 5 months/20 weeks or 5 cucumbers and 10 courgettes a week.
Just saying!

[Alison]

I don't follow yoir logic. 100 cucumbers is too many but you had too many and had to compost some.

I'm assuming he meant he had far less than 100 and had to compost some

[Bigmallly]

Well obviously...

I'll also remember to feed and water, not plant on someone elses allotment and not stamp on the plants in hobnail boots

Well, you seem to have it all in hand so I'll leave you to it.

[Alison]

If you want cabbages all round the year you need to sow different types. Personally I don't grow summer ones as there are other things I'd prefer then but I do sow spring ones in August and autumn and winter ones in about April. They take a lot of space up and the winter ones are in the ground for up to 8 months. Suggest you do a plan to work out if you can fit it all in, I did a simple plan my first year (which I've subsequently tweaked) to work out what each bit of ground would be used for over the year. The trick is to have things ready to put in when one crop finishes but not have to wait too long.

[Cadalot]

I don't follow yoir logic. 100 cucumbers is too many but you had too many and had to compost some.

Yep I planted Marketmore on one plot and six Burpless on the other and the Burpless grew like mad and whilst we eat a lot of salad they were so long and thick they took a bit of using, I would have given more than I did away if I had realised, but I ended up with a flower bucket of over ripe cucumbers that went into the compost. I have no problem with composting excess that can't be distributed.

[Newbiegrower1970]

We will easily eat 100 cucumbers. I eat a pack of those mini cucumbers for lunch every day.

As for me stamping on grapes, the beggars belief comment isn't very welcoming to a newbie

[Bill Door]

Hi Newbiegrower1970. It is wise to give yourself a target. However, after that you have to consider what each target will require.

So for instance the 20lbs (about 9 kilos) shallots is quite high. I think average weight of shallots grown (if you are lucky) is about 20 to 50 grams each and each shallot planted produces, on average, 5 shallots at the end of the season. So with an average weight of 35gms (some will not be that much) you will need to crop at least 260 shallots which would mean you would have to plant at least 52 shallots. In addition you will need another 15 shallots to give you the "seed" shallots for the next year.

From the RHS site they recommend 25 cms between shallots and 40 cms between rows. So four shallots will require about 0.9 of a square metre and therefore 67 shallots, when planted out will require about 15 square metres. You could reduce the distances but this might reduce the size of the crop. Note that this does not take into account disasters (which we have all suffered).

So with one target that will require 15 square metres of your available 80 square metres for about seven to nine moths of the growing season.

You now need to carry out a similar exercise for each of your target crops and decide whether you can fit them in over the growing season.

Obviously there are other considerations such as crop rotation and soil condition before you can actually see if it is all "doable".

I wish you the best of luck and would remind you that gardening like this is a calling and not a profession and many of us rely on experience and reading guidance from many excellent books/websites/magazines such as this.

Bill