I am not gardening next year! ??‍♀️

Thank you MamaCaz, I’m already looking at spring bulbs, alliums, azaleas, and grasses etc! It’s my version of buying handbags and shoes. ?

My tomatoes have been great. Those in my (small) greenhouse have been better than ever before.
In past years, I think the temperature fluctuations in it have been too great, with ridiculous temperatures on it when there is strong sunshine.
This year, I covered the greenhouse with a variety of light-coloured tarpaulines and fabric mesh as soon as we got the first summer sunshine, and left them on until a couple of weeks ago. They are still going strong, and no blossom-end rot for the first time in years!

My biggest failures this year were French beans (v. poor germination), carrots (great germination but I clearly didn't get the watering right in the hot dry weather as many have split), spring onions (only sowed one small row, early on, and they are still not large enough to eat, and the leeks, which will be usable but are a poor size this year. Even my rhubarb didn't produce as much as usual.

The biggest successes apart from tomatoes are the courgettes, parsnips and, hopefully, the Brussels sprouts.

But it's always swings and roundabouts. I try to grow a lot of different things, as every year, some things will do really well and others will disappoint - it's just that it's impossible to predict in advance which those are going to be from one year to the next!

Bluebellwould It sounds like you've had a really disappointing year in your new garden. I hope you get your gardening mojo back again over the winter, and feel up to giving it another go next spring.

Glad to know I’m not the only one. I think the no earthworms is because the garden had been paved over for I don’t know how many years. I am going to buy some online, amazing what you can get through the post isn’t it?

Could it be rain ? jaxjacky we had a long period of no rain then a period of a lot but it could also be the suppliers I know Mr Fothergills had trouble with poisonous courgettes although mine were mr fotherfills but I was giving them away faster than a shooting star
Courgettes were definitely my most prolific grower

BlueBelle every other year I’m inundated with courgettes, this year two, from two plants, I have no idea why.

Bluebellewould

Oh and plus there’s no worms in my soil! “

There was a question about this on GQT last week and I think it was Pippa Greenwood who said that no worms at all was alarming, could be that you have flatworms, which kill earthworms.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember what she said the solution was! Maybe worth a listen.

Good crop of runner beans, tomatoes, courgettes, chillies, rocket and chard. Have 4 aubergines growing wont bother with them next year , or leeks, cabbage or spinach - all disappointing.

I grew some cabbage, never have seen so many slugs! However have had lots of tomatoes and courgettes. whether the investment of water is worth it, is another matter....

jazjacky unlike you my courgettes have grown at breakneck speed and I ve had so many per plant

Bluebelle you could spread manure and let the worms do the work for you over the winter callistimon where did that come from I haven’t been on this thread yet ?

My tomatoes are only just going red now everyone has said the same but they are going and even the slightly turning ones will ripen inside
My chard was excellent sweet corn a bit iffy some not as full as I d have like Radishes were like cotton threads Potatoes were plentiful but had some black spots on the surface but it made no difference to the potato it was surface only shallots were very good and plentiful Excellent strawberries and raspberries
I m happy and looking forward to next year

Not a year goes by that I don’t say “I’m not bothering with this b****y garden next year!” Then one morning you're out there and see new green shoots, the first sight of hellebores, crocus and other early birds and you’re suckered sucked in again. “A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, fringed pool, Ferned grot.....”. Thomas Edward Brown.

Tomatoes good, though been getting blight warnings for last month, early potatoes lovely, main crop poor, courgettes sooo slow, French beans good. Swede, parsnip looking good at the top, Cavale Nero, kale, sprouts caged with debris netting, flourishing.
Carrots have been rubbish this year, I’ve been growing veg for 15 years, every year it’s bugs or weather! That’s how it goes, but I’ll be cracking on again soon.

No, everyone has mentioned the same about their tomatoes this year, Beauregard.

Bluebelle you could spread manure and let the worms do the work for you over the winter.

We've had better vegetables this year and it is probably because of the manure spread out and left to do its work last winter.

We've had a bumper year for potatoes, onions, peas, French beans, courgettes, brassicas and parsnips. This may be because we keep our three horses next to the veg plot, so manure is in abundance! It was very good for the weeds too, unfortunately.

The beans were battered by high winds and some were broken, but most survived. Cauliflower and broccoli went from good, to riddled with caterpillars, to gone to seed in just two weeks. I couldn't keep up with them.

We've had a poor year for tomatoes. It's my first year using a greenhouse and I have done better growing them outside in the past. The tomato plants leaves curled up and their growth was stunted. The only explanation I could find suggested it could be weedkiller in the air, sprayed by someone nearby??

Bluebellwould. I am guessing your soil is exceptionally dry. Autumn is a great time to introduce lots of organic matter and it can be simply dug in at this time of year.
Lawn clippings lightly sprinkled over the soil then loads of shredded leaves dug in to rot down over the winter and a green manure over every inch of bare soil should give you more successful results next year.

I had hundreds of tomatoes this year from 4 plants-my last green ones are on the kitchen window sill now in the sun. All my flowers did well too. I'm on the south coast though so have had hours of sunshine. Only had one decent courgette though and lots of baby tiny ones.

We have had loads of tomatoes, still more to ripen. The outdoor ones planted in the ground have been especially good - even after they got frosted they recovered. Cucumber, just picked the last one after having good crop.
Runner beans are on their second flowering, so plenty of those. Plenty of french ones as well.
Carrots have been good this year, sometimes they are rubbish.
Chillies not so good, think wrong variety was chosen.
Loads of rhubarb.

My OH built a cage to cover the cabbage/sprouting broccoli plants so they have stayed clear of caterpillars.

I am in the process of potting bulbs. To say that my relationship with bulbs has broken down is, to say the least an understatement. Pop them in the ground and they are ecstatic, they bloom profusely. Introduce them to a pristine pot, fill it with the best compost for bulbs, measure meticulously the depth they should be planted, and give them a nice winter top coat and they lie their sulking, then realising they are on death row, push out a profusion of greenery thinking I won’t notice there are no blooms. Well they have been replaced, and this lot had better do what they are supposed to do or else next spring .....................

We've had about three or four tomatoes from the 3 plants given to us by our SiL. The rest are still green. The cucumber has done well with lots of beautiful long fruit.
DH planted sweet peas of assorted colours, when they flowered they were all red. I picked some for a vase in the house, the scent was overpowering.
Pests such as greenfly and whitefly have been prolific though.

Our potato yield has been low because of the hot dry spells and they were planted late.

Half the cauliflowers went to seed in the time it took me to nip indoors and put the kettle on!

Hispi cabbages didn't heart up as well as last year.

Swede and Turnips disappointing.

Not as many runner beans as expected and something ate the French ones.

Successes were, courgettes, onions, shallots, all salad crops, aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, kale, celeriac, leeks, fennel and beetroot.

We have had really good crops this year but we have did as Nina said and just planted what us usually does well.

We have had a lot of tomatoes,onions,French beans,carrots and beetroot.A few cabbages survived the butterflies?

The rhubarb has gone mad!We cut it back to nothing twice but it has grown to triffid proportions again!

We had some good cucumbers, a few good potatoes earlier on, radishes were good, beans mediocre and not many of them, lots of tomatoes but watery and tasteless so, yes, a disappointing year in the garden. It was something to do in the lockdown though so I'd probably do it all again.

I am looking forward to another good year in the garden. After half a century of gardening- I have learnt one main thing - grow what grows well where you are, and nothing else.

This old country house has a cottage garden full of hardy perenials and roses - and I love it. And I only grow easy veggies and fruit that slugs can't reach. Given up on strawberries and swapped for raspberries - easy peasy and no worry about foxes contaminating them. Chard, leeks, small tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, etc. Peppers in large pots with copper collars, now inside on table by window sill in sun.

I don't want to fight with wildlife, and no joy in growing stuff that is not suitable.

Callistemon

Everyone I speak to seems to have had tomatoes problems this year. A hot spell followed by a cold spell didnt do them any good at all.

However, everything else seems fine and we've had loads of beans, too many cucumbers etc.
?

Just to be contrary, I have lovely tomatoes every day at the moment. They grew themselves in the borders from seeds which must have been from last years crop. All I have done is prop them up and trimmed off the bits that need trimming.

I have been making a tasty veg to add to meals by frying onion in olive oil, adding tomatoes, reduce down a bit and add balsamic vinegar.

There's always next year ----we've got another 6 months to go so just in time for more planting if all goes to plan in 2021.

I sowed 5 packs of nasturtium seeds in the borders and had zero results. However a small area we are rebuilding where nothing had been planted at all this year produced a superb display of different nasturtiums. Somehow seeds from last years flowers must have planted themselves in that spot. They obviously like it there.