Have You Started Planning For 2017.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Too right I have!

This year as been a bit of a "Flop" to be honest, again not disheartened, what will be will be!

Having had heaps of "Asparagus" now in it's 4th year! Loved It!

Raspberries n strawberries now just comming in to their own! Although a little sunshine would be nice!

I will just reap the rewards of what I have & don't think I would change much of what I already do, but a little more time being able to do it would have been nice!

But "Hey Ho"

[Nannysally99]

This is what I love about this forum - surrounded by the trials of this years weather - yet here we all are planning and looking forward to next years shenanigans. Perfect.

[Jay-ell]

at the moment just got a few firm ideas

beans

• climbing french beans (Cobra, Lingua di Fuoco, Blue Lake, Pea Bean, Goldfield, Cosse Violette) maybe 2 more varaeties
• Dwarf french Bean (Purple Teepee, Ying Yang, Tendergreen, Canadian French Wonder, Barlotta Supremo Nano, Capitano)
• Dwarf Runner Beans Pickwick
• Broad Beans Sutton Dwarf
• Overwintered broad beans Aquadulce Claudia

Peas aren't as certain as I need to see what the harvest is like this year At the moment theres

• Overwintered Douce Provence
• Tall pea Lord Leicester
• Tall pea Champion Of England
• Tall pea Serpette Guilloteau
• Tall pea Boddingtons Soup Pea

Kales & Cabbages :- No heading cabbages

• Dwarf Green Curly Kale
• Scarlet kale
• Possible Jersey Kale
• Asturian Tree Cabbage
• Sea Kale
• Daubertons Kale
• Taunton Dean

Squash
Currently seeing which squash, courgettes, pumpkins produce and next year I'm not going to be growing as many.

Yacon - I'll see how this years crop goes and see if I can over winter it
Skirret - same as the Yacon

Onions, leeks
I want to try sowing seeds rather than sets or seedlings next year. I've got Perutile and Walking Onions I want to grow up as well as babbington leeks. I also plan on growing Paris Silverskin for pickled onions

Garlic
Will do more elephant garlic. I have corms planted but they may take 2 years to germinate never mind head up.
I spring planted garlic this year - I'll winter plant for next year

Fruit Garden
I'll be under planting the trees with probably strawberries/pineberries
May look at getting some autumn raspberries - preferably one that can twin crop well. The rest of my fruit is really there

Root Veg

• Parsnips
• Carrots
• Salsify
• Scozonera
• Parsley Hamberg

I MAY have a couple of bags of tatties, but maybe not

Everything else is in the aether. I fancy giving Quinoa a go

[HoneyChild]

IN

Broad bean The Sutton
various salad leaves
Beetroot - Globe 2
Cavollo nero kale - haven't tried any yet but they look good
Spring onions - white lisbon
Onion sets - sturon and stuggarter seem good. Although might need to restrict to one bed to allow other alliums such as garlic for next year.
Strawberries have done well in greenhouse but I'll need to find a better solution as they're currently in small pots. Hanging baskets or guttering looks a good possibility.
Wild strawberries grow like weeds here, need to encourage more to grow. They don't seem to mind the wet weather at all.
More peppers of different varieties
radish - Sparkler, been having problems previously with radishes but they've been doing better this year possibly due to topping up with greenwaste compost and keeping slugs away from them.
Flowers - callendula, cornflowers, borage, nasturtiums, snapdragons, cosmos


Out
Perpetual spinach (might as well use the beetroot leaves)
Purslane (too wet here and they get soggy. Might try again in the greenhouse)
callaloo spinach are really tiny and don't seem to have much taste.

Not sure
Red celery (very small, need lots of plants to make it worthwhile)
Lambs lettuce (very small, although doesn't seem to be bothered by slugs so could still be worthwhile)

Sow earlier, probably some time in April (I have a greenhouse afterall!):
Cucumber
courgettes
french beans
runner beans

Additional thoughts
Allowing certain salad leaves to bolt (rocket, greek cress, broccoli raab and red frills mustard) attracts loads of beneficial insects including parasitic wasps and hoverflies. Ideal when other flowers (eg marigolds and nasturtiums) haven't come out yet.

Puting lots of sticks in the beds really works for keeping cats out. A lot less hassle than using nets.

Need to protect the red currant and gooseberry bushes better as they've been decimated by tiny green caterpillars.

[WPG]

My plans for next year include remembering to stake flowers before they collapse in a heap, cutting back the comfrey plants before they spread out and flatten the nearest crops, and building a proper frame for the sweet peas

I also plan (hope) to get a small polytunnel and try to grow peppers in it

Plans for veg are :

Definitely grow sweetcorn for a second year - I bought a tray of half price, half dead seedlings from Hbase this year, doubting that sweetcorn would ever survive in our northern climate.....but they seem to be thriving

No more red onions, they just bolt.

Lots more dwarf beans and borlotti beans

I decided not to grow any winter crops apart from PSB this year, so no parsnips, no leeks, no romanesco or sprouts etc. Beginning to regret it now, so I'll maybe have a rethink next year.

[katkatkat]

I only got my plot just over 2 weeks ago so I feel like I've barely planned for this year let alone started even contemplating next year.

I guess my next year plan would be continue trying to improve my soil. Cross my fingers and hope my fruit plants take. Grow more of everything I'm attempting to grow this year but plant it at the start of the season and not the end

[bussinspain]

Plans/ideas as follows:-
1. Construct shady tunnels over all my beds to protect my veg from that big yellow ball in the sky.
2. To grow first early potatoes in big compost bags that I have saved.
3. To get to grips with successional sowing ie to remember to do it every 3 weeks!
4. Replace my calcium encrusted drip irrigation pipes.
5. Construct my new fruit garden.
6. And finally to keep on enjoying my gardening.

[ESBkevin]

Next year I will have built the removable fence/wall beside the espalier fruit trees so I can cover them in clear plastic to avoid canker and peach leaf curl.
The strawberry stringers will get put into troughs that I raise up to about hip height, I'm fed up of the slugs and the back breaking tending/picking. Will also slightly reduce the overall quantity.
Raspberries, might take out the middle row to give better access to the others.
Try one more time to get a pea crop!
Increase my Parsnip crop (better position and germination).
Get plenty of muck in as soon as I've spread that which I've been composting so that I'll have qaulity stuff for the following year.
Otherwise more of the same because we like what we grow.

[Bigmallly]

The strawberry stringers will get put into troughs

Will the runners be treat the same way Kev?...........................

[ESBkevin]

Will the runners be treat the same way Kev?...........................

I don't treat runners, it encourages then you know. All them smelly trainers!

[noviceveggrower]

I have been thinking about next year as well.

In

Potatoes 1st earlies and 2nd earlies. Not Sharps Express as they just disintegrate when I cook them.
Runner beans. Love runner beans but has been a rubbish year with them.
Broad Beans. Love broad beans.
Onions.
Garlic. First year growing this. Ok so they have ended up smaller than the clove I started off with.
Courgettes cause I get loads off one plant.
Marrows
Pumpkin
Leeks
Parsnips
Salad bits lettuce, radish, beetroot
Jerusalem Artichokes
New Zealand Yams
Swede
Fennel. First year growing and it seems to be doing ok.
Kale.

Out

Peas never have any luck with them
Brassicas they just die on me. Even the ones my mom has given me are looking sick.
Tomatoes at this rate. They grow up to a point then nothing.

New stuff/ Things I hope to get next year

Strawberries. My sister is giving me some of hers
Blue berries. Actually more of them as the three I have at the moment are doing really well and its been the first time they have fruited and I've beaten the birds to them.
Asparagus. Love the stuff but need to find some where suitable for them.

My birthday in August so I hope to get some gift vouchers and hit the local garden centres

[Elfeda]

Next Year:


First thing is no planning !!! only corrections ..

1. Only sow seeds If there is a space ready. so I wouldn't be weeding while planting/watering/harvesting

2. start freezer crops from the mid summer and only grow the enough for cooking before then.



3. few/no salad crops at allotment. and use the space at home for them

4. No digging for next year

5. do not buy seeds.

[sparrow100]

Great idea for a thread BM. I'm having a dismal year with all the rain & slugs and this helps push away the glums. So far for 2016/17 I've thought about:

Plans:
- a second greenhouse up by the end of the year (involves relocating the shed)
- build a walk-in fruit frame on #92 for blackcurrants, tayberries and red gooseberries
- extend the rhubabarium(™ ) on #92 with another couple of crowns
- put in a second saffron bed where I know I currently have onion white rot
- finish all the digging
- have 3 large daleks full of rotted compost ready for next year.

OUT:
- sweet peppers & podding peas, both a bit meh
- outdoor tomatoes unless they are blight resistant (why do I NEVER learn!!)
- garlic - my one plot's just too wet, and the other has onion white rot
- salad burnet - blech

MORE:
- sugar snap peas
- flowers
- expensive or difficult to find veg - soft fruit, padron peppers, leaf chicory, salsify, root parsley etc
- shallots/onions from seed
- climbing beans for drying

FEWER:
- winter squash (this hurts, but we just can't/don't eat them all!)
- potatoes - it's lovely to have so many, but they are difficult to store
- strawberries - they are a right pain, and always seem to get badly slugged
- broad beans - unless tomorrow's broad bean felafel are a revelation...in which case they go in the 'more' section!

[Bigmallly]

Just a thought for anyone wanting to build fruit cages, grab hold of some knock down B&Q greenhouses without the glazing & simply net them, perfect, cheap & hassle free.

[Containergardener]

I've never seen any GH offers in bq