Lost your plot?

[cornish tigress]

I don't think we have had our exciting annual vegetable updates, have we? Well I have to report an alarming appearance of a cabbage eating bunny to add to my pheasant woes, so I'll have bu©©er all for winter. But courgettes and tomatoes are coming out of my ears. Beans were rubbish - never got hot enough - am only just harvesting them and a pretty thin crop. Tiny onions and garlic, but nice. Chard, kale, carrots, spinach, brassicas all munched by the flipping wildlife. Potatoes in the bags were rubbish, in the plot were OK. It was a bit of a why did I bother year for me. What about anyone else?

[Rizzo]

Strawberries all went to mush and rotted on the plant. Snails and slugs abound (I need a hedgehog!). Apples on my Dad's trees are far less and smaller than usual, plums have been very few & some rotting on the tree.

On the plus side I've seen fewer wasps and daddy long legs...

On the minus side, every venture near the pond for weeding - unless done in full sun - results in BIG mozzie-type bites.

Bring on the hard frosts and snow!

[CJ]

cabbages were OK this year partly or mainly because I built a cage for them and foiled the wildlife.
runner and french beans a disaster though I am now harvesting some runners. Potatoes excellent.
I've now planted some more potatoes for Christmas. parsnips look really good and yet again I have too many courgettes. They don't freeze do they? there is only so much chocolate courgette cake I can eat.

Apples superb and lots of raspberries which started a couple of months ago, even though they are autumn varieties, and are now producing loads. I eat too many to leave enough for jam.

far too many slugs this year. they got all my butternut squash and the first lot of fennel - I got the better of the slugs by netting, coffee grounds and - I'm ashamed to say it - slug pellets. sweet corn not worth the effort.

onions were good but had the same problem as Rizzo with the garlic. Very small.

am planning a major effort on enhancing the soil this year with loads of manure.

[cornish tigress]

Mr CT has just invented a rather brilliant courgette and parmesan soup. Want the recipe? Had it twice this week, but very yum. Courgettes, tomatoes and chillies are the only things we have in abundance. One apple tree has done well. The pear trees were rubbish. Rasps are OK, but not as good as last year. Young Farmers didn't come round with the poo this year so I have been using chicken manure, perhaps not as good?

[cornish tigress]

Recipe sent CJ. Good luck.

[CJ]

thanks CT. that looks delicious. not sure why I always plant too many courgettes nor can I really understand why they always thrive no matter what the weather.

[Rizzo]

I bought myself a Trailcam at the Rutland Birdfair in August (remote motion activated camera) mainly to film little video clips of the foxes and other wildlife visiting my garden.
One thing it has shown me is a large black cat which appears around 1am and seems to wee all over my two strawberry pots. GRRRRR

[cornish tigress]

Oooh that would drive me apoplectic. I daren't get one of those. I'd be on my porch with a shotgun every night! Wildlife I can just about handle, thoughtless people's pets is quite another thing

[Nailsworthstiger]

Been a disaster here in Herefordshire as well.

Carrots, beetroot squash and tomatoes all washed away. Garlic excellent and onions not bad but a tad small. Desiree reds were nice but I may of dug them up too early as they weren't too big. Sweet corn hasn't really grown and no cobs have formed.

But I did have a great crop of broad beans and the runner beans are growing like mad. Always found the best runners to plant are White Lady's. They taste superb and they don't let you down.

[tigerburnie]

Scotland rarely gets warm for long enough to grow anything too tender outside.I managed sweetcorn once and gave up in the end,big plants but no cobs.My tatties are good,peas were good,beetroot not bad,carrots poor,beans poor .Fruit not too bad,had a few strawberries,rasps and goosegogs great,blackcurrents pretty good too.Apples had a bit of scab due to the damp,don't grow brassicas as the caterpillers eat them and I'm organic.

[Kinoulton]

Strawbs appeared briefly, asparagus didn't show, no sign of apples or pairs.

The farmers have hay that has achieved a pathetic height because, whilst it has been warm, it hasn't been sunny.

But for some reason the wasps are thriving and Jacqui the Jack Russell is killing about 50 a day.