From last year:
What worked well:
- Charlotte potatoes - delicious, good yield, kept really well. A definite do-again, already bought the seed potatoes for this year. Busy chitting in the garage.
- Potatoes in pots - this was kind of a joke last year: you can’t do that because they need daily watering, and when you go away on vaca… Uh, OK, sure you can do that. Thing is, they worked really well in 7-10 liter pots full of home-made compost. Definite repeat for early potatoes. (Frost? Put 'em in the shed!)
What failed:
- Swede - the greens were good, but for some reason the tubers never developed sweetness. Two years of failure - done with them.
- Mangetout - plants struggled and didn’t produce - another two-and out.
- Beetroot - bastard mice ate them. I’ll move that crop from the allotment to the beds at home.
- Leeks - got swamped by the swedes. I’ll make sure they have their own space this year.
The usual suspects: On the allotment I’ll also be growing runner, broad/fava and french beans, peas, pumpkin, squash, turnip, courgette/zucchini, cucumber, asparagus. At home marjoram, thyme, tarragon, basil, rosemary, mint, salad leaves (lettuce, land cress, spinach); plus gooseberry, blueberry, blackcurrant, more asparagus.
I’ll also have a little spare space on the allotment, as my mentor J has back problems which will prevent her from playing in a corner of my plot. Any edible suggestions? (Not tomatoes - tried and failed several times).
The only real experiment this year is my very own, brand new Medlar Tree!* Been in the ground for two weeks now, and just coming into leaf. Oh, and I realised that, if I got myself properly organised and did some timely germination, when I take the potatoes up at the end of June I can probably use the ground for a second crop of peas and broad beans - I did that as a pilot last year, peas worked, broad beans needed more time. I’ll do it properly this year. (Turnips are always a second crop done this way.)
j
* - obsession detailed in the Coelacanth Jam thread