What were your best value veg crops this year?

[stirlingstar]

I mean in terms of feeling glad that you grew them / you found them easy enough, useful and tasty - rather than a strictly £ value.

We had fairly curtailed planting scheme this year, due to new baby. Put down two raised beds to potatoes (for easiness) and managed some peas & beans and a fair bit of salad. Have a few carrots and red onions in, but haven't ever got round to either netting or thinning them. Tomatoes in too, but never pinched out the side shoots so have millions of teeny ones!

So am just starting to think about next year - should hopefully have a bit more time, but want to get a lot of reward for effort. What do you recommend?

From this & previous year's experience, I'd say fir apple potatoes, lambs lettuce, red salad lettuce score high overall. Peas and beans score for taste but medium for yield. Not convinced that root veg are worth the hassle (?). But v willing to listen to other opinions!

Cheers!

I had loads of probs with diseases this year but was amazed by how well my courgettes did which were just a last minute shove a plant in attempt and it was great, had a fantastic yield with no effort (my sort of gardening )

Swiss Chard. Grew this for the first time. It's not the most inspiring veg in the world but we've had fresh green leaves relentlessly none stop since June and it still grows strong. Every time you cut it down it just grows back. I'm not sure how long it will carry on into the autumn though. Def one for next year.

I also have some raddichio doing very well and I hope it will extend my salad into the autumn.

My bean crop was about half of last year, I guess the weather didn't suit. Won't stop me growing neans again because most crops have good and bad years.

Oh and garlic.
I planted some from a supermarket corm in early spring and they have done fantastically well. I have them hung up in the porch. I'll be growing much more next year.
I've never tried growing garlic before and I know you are supposed to buy seed corms and plant in autumn but mine did fine .

Courgettes and squash as the summer has been warm and moist.

French beans did really well, runners not so.

Swiss chard, it goes on and on and on...

Oh and the broad beans we planted last autumn did a lot better than any I've ever planted in spring!

Courgettes, strawberries, tomatoes and chillis so far. I am reserving judgement on the peppers and sweetcorn until they are ready, if they ever are. Actually, add mangetout to the list, didn't have many but they had a very good yield and were incredibly easy.

Marrow (loads of it - for very little effort) and cucumbers seemed to do well. So did the beetroot. And the tomatoes have just ripened, so I take back everything I said about them.

what a waste to use raised beds for potatoes! (Unless all yours are raised) put carrots in to them, means you dont need to worry about the carrot fly. mine were great, no hassle, and the children love pulling them up. have also done parsnips in raised bed, great, but dont plant next to carrots (encourages disease).potatoes and onions are always good value, little maintenance, get scab resistant ones if yours get scabby tjough. leeks too.

My first year in this garden, which is erm..challenging (acid soil, heavy clay, exposed hillside, north-facing, shaded by mature trees. You name it, basically) but have nevertheless had success with: potatoes (esp the yummy Arran pilots and rattes), kale, beetroot and even courgettes (eventually). Have leeks, purple broccoli and cabbages in for autumn/winter and doing fine. Am planning to put in some rasps this autumn and rhubarb in the spring, with more strawbs. I did garlic in pots, which I'll do more of this year, and am thinking of putting some overwintering onions in too.

potatoes - we had some skanky ones left over from our veg box, put them in pots and got millions and millions in return