As a gardener the one thing that is a definate is that we all learn from our mistakes. Sometimes things go right and life feel good and then something just doesn't go right and as a gardener you wonder why. I just blame it on nature telling me " I will do it my way"
As has been said already, there always next year to get it right
Its our summer in a new house and because the garden was being worked on we couldn't get anything in the ground until mid-June so we weren't expecting great things this year. As the garden was done we went to the garden centre and chose from whatever they had left - with mixed results.
Not so good: - Cos Lettuce - grew ok (before it bolted) but didn't taste very good - Radish - first lot got too big so they went woody, second batch from seed didn't swell up properly - Peas - the seedlings just died - Borlotti beans - seedlings also died - Tomatoes - have grown them successfully in a plastic mini greenhouse but this was the first year with a proper one and they weren't great. I think that's more to do with the varieties though - we didn't get the greenhouse until end of June so they were just whatever we could find at the garden centre. - Brussel sprouts - totally destroyed by caterpillars
So-so: - Savoy cabbage - the one that we did have was wonderful, but the other 5 didn't form a proper cabbage head. I think they also take up too much room so they're off the list for next year. - Sweet potatoes - were very nice tasting, but not a very big crop - they didn't swell up properly - Peppers - strong plants and plenty of fruit, but they're staying resolutely green. Will try to keep the stronger plants alive over the winter to get a head-start next year - Chilies - probably didn't start them early enough, there's finally a fair amount of fruit on them now, but ripening might be a problem - Brocolli - had a couple of heads off them, but not much return for the space needed
Went well: - Spring onions - Leeks - Mini cucumbers - not sure of the variety but they're outdoor ones and they were fab - Land cress - still going strong and almost as nice as watercress - Rocket - grew far too much & have now harvested a load of seeds for next year - Spinach - Sweetcorn - take up a lot of space but wow they taste good! Will definitely grow again - but need to see if we can grow anything else underneath them to maximise on our limited space
Posts
As a gardener the one thing that is a definate is that we all learn from our mistakes. Sometimes things go right and life feel good and then something just doesn't go right and as a gardener you wonder why. I just blame it on nature telling me " I will do it my way"
As has been said already, there always next year to get it right
Its our summer in a new house and because the garden was being worked on we couldn't get anything in the ground until mid-June so we weren't expecting great things this year. As the garden was done we went to the garden centre and chose from whatever they had left - with mixed results.
Not so good:
- Cos Lettuce - grew ok (before it bolted) but didn't taste very good
- Radish - first lot got too big so they went woody, second batch from seed didn't swell up properly
- Peas - the seedlings just died
- Borlotti beans - seedlings also died
- Tomatoes - have grown them successfully in a plastic mini greenhouse but this was the first year with a proper one and they weren't great. I think that's more to do with the varieties though - we didn't get the greenhouse until end of June so they were just whatever we could find at the garden centre.
- Brussel sprouts - totally destroyed by caterpillars
So-so:
- Savoy cabbage - the one that we did have was wonderful, but the other 5 didn't form a proper cabbage head. I think they also take up too much room so they're off the list for next year.
- Sweet potatoes - were very nice tasting, but not a very big crop - they didn't swell up properly
- Peppers - strong plants and plenty of fruit, but they're staying resolutely green. Will try to keep the stronger plants alive over the winter to get a head-start next year
- Chilies - probably didn't start them early enough, there's finally a fair amount of fruit on them now, but ripening might be a problem
- Brocolli - had a couple of heads off them, but not much return for the space needed
Went well:
- Spring onions
- Leeks
- Mini cucumbers - not sure of the variety but they're outdoor ones and they were fab
- Land cress - still going strong and almost as nice as watercress
- Rocket - grew far too much & have now harvested a load of seeds for next year
- Spinach
- Sweetcorn - take up a lot of space but wow they taste good! Will definitely grow again - but need to see if we can grow anything else underneath them to maximise on our limited space
Good: carrots, leeks, spring onions, beetroot, french beans (slow to start), currants, rhubarb, parsnips, pak choi, strawberries.
Bad: salsify, cougettes, squash, chillis, tomatoes, sweetcorn.
Basically semi-tropical crops did bad.