Giving Up

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Giving Up
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Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:05 pm Post subject: Giving Up
................On the veg plot for this year. So many crops failed, and after that the cabbage whites ignored the marigolds, onions and garlics that were meant to Save And Protect, and noshed virtually anything and everything in a few short days. Now stripping everything out and will then rotovate in a load of compost and plant winter veg if the rain ever stops, if not, it'll be rice!!!

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:06 pm Post subject:
It has been disheartening this year, it'll be better next!

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:10 pm Post subject:

dmy runner beans were ok in the end and my sweet peas are still going if only slowly

the onions are out now and though not as big as last year, they aren't too bad

the peas are finished

forget the tomatoes, they got blight even in the greenhouse ande my peppers did nothing really nor did th cucmbers

garlic is harvested as are spuds, not brill

the third planting of brassicas is still moving slowly -at least i shall have some kale and sprouting broccolli next spring

better luck next year hopefully

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:14 pm Post subject:
Crazy isn't it. Without the sunlight and with so much damp and humidity, the peas moulded whilst swelling, the tomatoes either got blight or didn't ripen, the onions leeks and garlic didn't swell, the peppers just took one look and gave up, (our basil did well, lots of pesto sauce here), beetroot didn't swell, carrotts were pathetic, runner beans did well, .....I could go on.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:20 pm Post subject:
We are lucky we don't (at the moment) have to rely on what we produce to survive through the winter, but for many people a bad harvest spells disaster.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:22 pm Post subject:

Feel a bit bad saying it, but with the exception of the sprouts and cabbages getting a hiding it has been good here.

Onions, carrots, courgettes, cauliflowers, broccolli and runner beans have all fed us well. just started pullling beetroot and it's a mixed back with some good and some a little small. Parsnips look like they will be decent too.

Tomato crop a complete failure, it'll be another year of usingthem for chutney.

Bebo

Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 12590
Location: East Sussex

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:27 pm Post subject:

Courgettes, marrows and cucumbers have been cropping prolifically (I'm sick of trying to find things to make with them). Going to be a bumper crop of pumpkins. Spuds have been mixed - bigger crop than last year but a lot of the them have been affected by the blight even after cutting them down when it first showed. Onions did reasonably well. Brassicas also good, apart from a few caterpillars showing now on the winter ones. Best crop of beetroot I've ever had. Peas were OK but not very prolific. Beans have been dire.

Inside, blight is starting to affect the toms and I hoiked a few plants out this morning to try to slow it down. Chillis and peppers not as good as last year, but theres enough of a crop to have made it worth growing them. Loads of small aubergines as well - more than we can use as the OH hates them.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:37 pm Post subject:

Bebo, have you removed leaves from your tomato plants? I stripped mine of leaves at the first hint of possible blight, just as the fruits were beginning to ripen and had (by my standards) a pretty good crop. I can't be sure that the plants actually had blight, but after losing the lot last year I wasn't taking any chances. I've ripened quite a lot indoors, but left some outside until last week.

I've just made a fab courgette and cheese loaf - definitely a good use of courgettes!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:42 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

Feel a bit bad saying it, but with the exception of the sprouts and cabbages getting a hiding it has been good here.

I think it's reassuring though to know other people have been successful.

We've not done too badly either although we mostly concentrate on stuff to be eaten straight from the garden rather than stored. Tomatoes have done well in the greenhouse, most have ripened and been picked. Brassicas are also ok at the moment.

This year's unusual pest has been an attack of red spider mite in the plastic greenhouse, wiping out our main cucumber crop.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 5:58 pm Post subject:

Not too bad here either. The beans have been a bit disappointing, indoor and outdoor cucumbers a great success (what do you do with large gherkins?), beefsteak tomatoes were fantastic but unfortunately most went past totally ripe while on holiday. Sweetcorn done well, pumpkins going mental, good garlic and turnips, cabbges slow, salad easy. Lots of slug and snail activity but damage localised. Soft fruit has been good. I'll have one red pepper in a day or two, not a good return for a plant that cost �1. Oriental brassicas going in this week.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 6:09 pm Post subject:
Oriental brassicas you say?...putting them in now meand no more caterpillas probs......please tell more?

SarahB

Joined: 09 Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Location: South Wales

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 6:14 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

It has been disheartening this year, it'll be better next!

Didn't we say that last year?
Rice needs heat though, so that's not possible.

We didn't do too badly but it could have been better.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 6:35 pm Post subject:

marigold wrote:

I've just made a fab courgette and cheese loaf - definitely a good use of courgettes!

Recipe on my blog now (gluten-free, but should be good with wheat-flour too, if someone wants to experiment

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 6:38 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

It has been disheartening this year, it'll be better next!

We said that last year. It's been better here this year for most things. Much better. The brassicas are all hidden beneath weeds so even the cabbage whites didn't find them. Not a good year for onions (or any kind of fruit) but as always we look towards the next season with enthusiasm and hope.

Bebo

Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 12590
Location: East Sussex

Posted: Sun Sep 07, 08 7:04 pm Post subject:

marigold wrote:

Spent two hours in the polytunnel this morning stripping back most of the lower leaves on the plants that I left in. I only took half a dozen out of the 36 that were in there out so hopefully there will still be plenty of ripe toms to come. We've already had 5 or 6 buckets full of normal sized toms which I've make pasta sauce out of and frozen or bottled and more cherry toms than we've been able to eat, so I'm not complaining about a bit of blight this late on in the season.

I think its going to be a mega-batch of curried courgette soup to bottle up next. I'm trying to get into the habit of taking something home cooked in to work for lunch (rather than paying Notting Hill prices every day) and a big supply of soup fits the bill for that. Got a batch of Ukranian Chicken Borscht on the hob at the moment for this week.

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