2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!

-taff

For greenhouses, keep an eye out on fb market place, I see them regularly fr free or for fifty quid if the buyer comes and dismatnles. You'd normally need a ten mm spanner for the aluminium ones.

Suffolk_lass

Also the Aldo's cold frames are good value.

YBR

It's an odd year
Beans are in full production earlier than usual, and strawberries were early too.
Courgette and lettuce are much as usual
Peas (particularly sugar snap) are disappointing, as is 1 cucumber off two plants (so far but I don't see signs of more), and very few tomatoes fertilised.

Anyone else found similar, or perhaps it just me?

leftatthetrafficlights

YBR said:

It's an odd year
Beans are in full production earlier than usual, and strawberries were early too.
Courgette and lettuce are much as usual
Peas (particularly sugar snap) are disappointing, as is 1 cucumber off two plants (so far but I don't see signs of more), and very few tomatoes fertilised.

Anyone else found similar, or perhaps it just me?

Same sort of situation here - courgettes, beans, peas, brassicas, beetroot all doing well; tomatoes, salads and peppers/chillis all very disappointing 😞 I planted loads of tomatoes this year - the greenhouse ones and the outdoor ones all have some tomatoes on them but lots less than expected and very few ripening as normal...think it will be a case of finding lots of green tomato recipes in a couple of months! 🤦‍♀️

carinjo

@Glittering_M i picked mine up for £40 on fb marketplace. In addition to the spanner mentioned, i recommend a permanent marker to number the corners and take a video and photos beforehand of how it looks before dismantling!
I am (not) happy to hear i am not the only one having a disappointing year. Yes to lots of green tomatoes. flowering squashes, cucumbers and courgettes not going anywhere. The purple climbing beans are just enough to provide a side dish once a week for the 2 of us.
The one proper success this year so far are the gooseberries and blackberries. And now with the rain we had, the fruit bursting on the branches.
The golden plum is looking healthy with just a few wasps on the leaves when i checked a few days ago and no aphids.
The leeks we planted last month all established. 
The garlic all dried and most into the freezer. We don't have the space to hang it and the shed is a no-no after the mice troubles last winter. 
On a sad note, our pear tree got pear scab. I believe i either did not prune enough over winter or did not clear enough of the dead leaves under the tree. I will add proper maintenance for the area to my list for winter. 

alicef

the good ... the bad ....... and the utterly dismal

Right where are we

The good - polytunnel all pretty much as expected (tomatoes/cucumbers/peppers/chillies/aubergines/grapes), the early peas great, the french beans very good - okay on the garlic (not good enough to sell but hey).  The top fruit - great year for plums/damsons/gages on volume -sugar content a bit bleurgh - apples okay ditto pears.

The bad - onions grown from seed haven't bulked up much; the later sown peas are a no show

The utterly dismal - how can I grow lovely looking sweetcorn plants with paltry corns?  I managed to pick a courgette the other week that was as big as my finger - I think there may be another one that will get a bit bigger.  I don't even want to think about the pumpkins and squashes.

But there is always NEXT YEAR!

carinjo

alicef said:

But there is always NEXT YEAR!

Truth! 
Ms C and I went harvesting berries and beans and i cleared some lower leaves from tomatoes. Also harvested some self seeded perpetual spinach and chard. 
Pen and paper planning now for winter prep and next year, not sure the sun will play along and ripen enough fruit and veg before end of season. 

Glittering_M

My roses I got earlier this year as bare roots are starting to show buds. I wasn't sure if they'd do anything this year. That makes me happy today!

Glittering_M

Spoke too soon, Bambi had a good feast 😭😭

carinjo

Glittering_M said:

Spoke too soon, Bambi had a good feast 😭😭

I know a guy...
Sorry to hear that. But if it can blossom once, it can blossom again