What will you do differently next year?

I'm going to have a(nother) rearrangement of the veg patch. My idea of putting the growhouse against the fence looked good on paper and in the winter, but when the leaves on the clematis on the archway opened the growhouse was in deep shade. I was also unable to put secure stakes in, due to the footings for the fence posts and the old patio that used to be there, so the tomatoes pulled their canes over when they started to get heavy with fruit. The result is a complete tangle of tomato plants which are covered in fruit, very little of which has ripened. This is in sharp contrast to the 4 Sungold plants the other side of the dividing fence, which are in full sun and have produced vast quantities of ripe fruit. The growhouse is going back on the patio and will be reserved for potted plants which are not too tall (peppers and bush tomatoes probably). I will also TRY to remove the sideshoots a bit more so things are not quite so wild (I say this every year...).

I also need to find a sensible way of housing my strawberry plants. The tower pots didn't really work, being impossible to water, especially when you are hindered by a fruit cage. The Malwina (late) strawberries were the main sufferers, spending most of the time at the bottom of the tower. They produced very little fruit as a result. I've got a turntable thing, which I could put some on, but I would need smaller towers as the current ones are too big. Plenty of thinking to do in that direction this winter. I also need to find a solution to my broken fruit cage, the main problem being that it has to stand on paving, and most of them require anchoring in soil.

Next year all my potatoes are to be grown in builders bags to hopefully keep the voles at bay. All the raised beds are to be edged with garlic cloves as it is "supposed" to deter moles & the likes. All tomatoes will be grown under cover due to blight. Must fluff up the parsnip bed as although it was 50% compost 50% sand, it was too compact & caused them to fork............I think I had a worse year than Marb...........

Don't have a large area but I may seriously give up on veg and increase the fruit aspect.

Onions have never developed into anything one would call an onion. Of the ones planted this year about 1/3 were the same size as when they went in. Possibly annoyingly they didn't die, they did nothing. Leeks have been a disaster for 3 years - they germinate and "grow" but I have seen many spring onions that are huge by comparison.

Tried spring onions also and I cannot even find where they were sown.

About 50% of the carrots have managed to at least look like possibilities from the foliage - have not lifted any yet (too scared), half expect a green tuft and nothing else.

Nothing that has ever gone in for overwintering has actually overwintered.

Garlic's this year another joke, same last and the one before. Actually the best I ever had on garlic was about 6 or 7 years ago and it came from Sainsbury's. None of the "proper" ones have done much.

Tomato's generally seem OK.

So I may increase the gooseberry and blackcurrant population. Also relocate the raspberries into a better bed for them. Maybe a second blueberry also.

But for many like onions I may as well not bother then the money that would have gone on 2 sets would get me about 10lb from a supermarket.

More flowers, love bringing home flowers for the house from allotment. Cosmos is still brilliant. Will try Dahlias, gladioli, and dwarf sunflowers, as well as sweet peas.

More potatoes in bags, much easier for me to deal with, and good for 'just the two of us'.

Will try again at sowing every few weeks, tried this year, but things like Mange Tout, caught up with each other.

Will try again next year with 'yellow courgettes', this year, no germination, and the green ones turned into marrows, cos I missed them.

Purple prodded French beans, again, easier to spot.

Bought some Aquadulce, broad beans to try an over winter variety, next year, for earlier crop.

Am not going to plant onion sets in Spring, disaster this year, all are going to be Autumn planted.

Definitely more Elephant garlic, and more ordinary garlic.

Definitely grow tomatoes, on top balcony at home, great success, but want to try a larger /beef type, as well as cherry varieties, and maybe not quite so many plants, 29 really too many!

One specific thing: next year I will grow carrots under scaffold netting right from the start. This year I started them under fleece but I think it was too pleasant for the slugs under there. Netting should be easier to manage.

One general thing: I'm going to stay on top of the weeds the entire season and see if I can thereby stay on top of the slugs.

These are my New Gardening Year Resolutions.

a) net brassicas from the word go.
b) prepare onion bed more carefully - the clay soil was too much like hard work for the poor blighters this year.
c) in my sq ft garden, plant the big things at the back, not in the middle or front! Who knew that cosmos grew so tall? It shaded the carrots, so no real crop of those this year. The PSB shaded some of the lettuce and the parsnips shaded the chard.
d) more green manures and under-cropping.
e) swop the cukes and tommies round: put cukes in the placcy greenhouse and the toms in the lean-to greenhouse and the containers. It was too steamy in the placcy for the toms and they got blight.
f) feed things more at the lottie. Get nettle and comfrey tea buckets going down there so it's all in situ.
g) don't trust the lottie fence to keep rabbits out. Surround tender crops with chicken wire.
h) remember to pinch the tops out of the broad beans.
i) try growing some spuds in bags.
j) have yet another go at leeks. Give the seedlings more room to grow.
And above all: relax and enjoy and remember that even apparent disasters don't really matter!

Learn growing things in pots require more water than I ever thought


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Next years changes
NO tomatillo plants
less nasturtium and marigolds in the tunnel
less sweet peppers
getting rid of most of the strawberrys.
melons growing in little greenhouse only, not in the tunnels.
All chilli plants growing in fish boxes in the tunnel. I put some in fish boxes half way through the year because I had run out of big pots for repotting. They have done very well. So if I get them into fish boxes from the start next year, I should have a great crop.
potatoes get there own bed with supporting wire, string or rope. There were doing great this year, sharing a bed with other veg till we had some bad weather and they all fell over on to the other crops.
toying with the idea of putting another raised bed in for next year.
Jobs I've already started for next year. New raised herb bed. My own version of square foot gardening ( will take photos when I'm done). Also in the middle of reducing the width of one of my raised beds by a foot. As who ever put it in put it to close to the hawthorn hedge. So in the middle of summer when everything is growing very quickly. I didn't have enough space to get up the side of the bed to prune the hedge, I couldn't walk on the bed because it was full of crops. So the bed ended up being very shaded and everything in it leaning as far in the other direction as it can to try and get some light. Making things tricky walking up the footpath on the other side of the bed. So narrow the bed and attack hawthorn hedge regularly next year. I think that's it.

I'm going to make sure my plot is ready to go in the Spring. Use the winter for clearing up mess, sorting the chickens, and clearing my paths etc. I was very behind this year, I had jobs more important than sowing and things got on top of me. Preparation starts now.

Less spuds, more kale, lettuce and broccoli


I don't bother with onions anymore either. If you have a small plot there are other veggies that are more expensive to buy and have better returns. Though, garlic is a must for me...first year for me that I didn't overwinter any and it was disastrous! Early October sowing works best for me, when the ground is still warm for their roots to put out plenty of growth before the cold hits and add a little sand, it helps if we have a lot of rain.

Need to add in: Just cleared out a short row of what I thought was a couple of weeds, they were the most pathetic swedes and turnips ever seen. They were so poor I had forgotten they were there.

Use my allotment greenhouse for tomatoes. Try some more little ones - the little lightbulb shaped ones at community garden are very nice.
Mulch more. Much more.
Have a whole bed of french beans.

I'm sayin' nuttin!
I'm sure I posted in a similar thread last year and still went on to do the same stuff this year

Great thread though, it has already given me some good ideas and, yes Compo, I need to be more consistent with watering next year.

No dramatic changes for me just a bit less of everything with the exception of Garlic which will increase.

Going to reduce:

runner plants by 50%
cabbage 20%
Leeks 20%
courgettes 50%

Well that's my current thinking anyway

Less Purple podded peas we only eat them as mange tout so i'll be replacing them with more Telephone peas they taste much nicer.