I think this will be my last year attempting to grow Brussells Sprouts. I've tried them in the fall and in the spring. I'm now on my third different variety (long Island improved). Last fall I managed to nurse my fall planting through the winter (after they failed to produce any sprouts in the fall) and got some very loose sprouts in the spring. And it's not as if I love eating B sprouts or anything. It's just the challenge of growing them. But eventually, even I know when I've been bested.

ncdirtdigger, you're supposed to start them in May or some start in June. Then you harvest in Octoberish. That's for my area at least.

Come to think of it, I cannot get melons to grow to save my life. So I officially quit. Squash on the other hand...giddy-up!

It sounds like some of you all got further than I did with the watermelons. I had a nice bed prepared for watermelons and/or canteloupes. So I planted some sugar babie melons. Then I decided it was too iffy and I might end up all summer slaving over "difficult" plants that would not come out well. Anyway the watermelon seedlings got torn out and in went butternuts instead!! Now I am slaving over butternut plants because they have their problems too, but *also* just this moment took out a tray from the oven with 3 roasted butternuts-- to mash up and freeze-- haha try doing *that* with a sugar baby watermelon!!

Really if I had enough space and sunlight (don't have a lot of either) I would try watermelons though! For sure! I day dream of a big sandy plot down east in coastal Carolina to grow melons and canteloupes and sweet potatoes... collards in the winter!!

There is an old saying in my family, "Never name the river you will not cross or the well from which you will not drink" I just grow what I like to eat and what my friends and neighbors will eat ( not always the same crop) If someone asks me " Why don't you grow such and such" and they really want that vegetable, I will probably grow it for them. I don't eat cherry tomatoes, but I often grow them for friends who do.

Okay Glib & Booberry, I ate a leaf of the swiss chard, raw. Middle of the plant. Knowing it would not have the best flavor, growing so big in this hot weather. It tastes like strong spinach... not bad. But then it left my mouth feeling bitter and dried out, and then my throat started hurting. Maybe will try it cooked next time!

I don't grow squash anymore. Takes up too much space. Easy to find at the farmers' market or produce stand.

Caffie, raw chard is best when it's very small. Some of the grocery store lettuce mixes include chard. I can't wait for cooler weather to plant some (along with arugula and lettuce). We eat it all winter through the spring. It's great as a side dish (with ginger and garlic), added to Pasta e Fagioli, or as part of a main dish. This is one of our favorites. First dish I ever tried with Swiss chard. I usually serve it with apple chicken or spicy mango & jalapeno chicken sausages.

{{gwi:104810}}
Pasta & Swiss Chard

6 oz. penne or rigatoni, cooked & drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 - 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
about 1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
large bunch Swiss chard, washed, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2-3 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted

Heat oil in a large skillet; saute onion and celery for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms. Cook for a couple minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes, stock, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chopped Swiss chard and pine nuts. Continue cooking for a few minutes ... only until chard wilts. Add cooked pasta. Toss to coat. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.

For me it's curly Kale, too bitter. I'll try Dino Kale next this fall. Is it milder?

Tasty Green and Gold Medal tomatoes. They lived rent free in my garden this year. All my other varieties did great. Tasty Green died from fusarium (you were right, Dave!) before it set fruit. Gold Medal isn't producing at all.

I have more tomatoes than I can put up from all my other plants. So, I'm not missing them. However, I won't plant them again. Space is too valuable.

Erin

Hello! - Well, last year I started my garden rather late in July but still had a great crops of cucumbers, zucchini and unripened tomatoes (ripened them up inside - lasted til Dec.). Just grew those 3 things.

This year, I probably bit off more than I could chew, but decided to grow the following: cucumbers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, eggplant, straight-neck summer squash, radishes, romaine and other lettuces, sweet potatoes (bought plants on-line from Tenn.), brussels sprouts, acorn squash and yellow/green/red bell peppers.
Brussels sprouts never thrived - started them from seed - might try later on in season. Peppers haven't grown much and have upward curling leaves - one small pepper so far that had sunscald. Eggplants have 'blossom drop' - lots of blossoms but no fruit yet. Zucchini and summer squash finally have female blossoms. I've covered the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes with shade netting - have my fingers crossed for a positive outcome. It's been in the mid to upper 90's with low humidity here, which is normal for our summer.

The winners so far are: cucumbers, cantaloupe (waiting for fruits to get larger), tomatoes (waiting for fruit to ripen), radishes (waiting for 2nd crop to produce fruit),and romaine/lettuces. The losers so far are: brussels sprouts, peppers, and eggplant.

I love raw kale, but I can't stand cooked kale. It is really bitter. I would love to plant the whole garden in English peas. That is my favorite thing to eat. They never make it into the house before I eat them all raw. I gave up on onions, garlic and carrots. They are all cheap in the store, I don't eat them that much and my garden is small. Never did grow the butternut squash I bought seeds of. Hubby wanted me to plant it in a wild spot in the front yard. I was afraid I would forget to water it.

bell peppers- sweet italians are more prolific and better for all applications
purslane- hell to get rid of
jerusalem artichoke- ditto
riesentraube heirloom cherry tomato- big disappointment in both yield and flavor
black raspberries- too seedy, too hard to control
perilla- yucky and potentially harmful to our cattle
emerald and gold mint- weak sister of the mints
i could go on and on...

Corn. It's a raccoon-magnet, and that was when the ears were only a couple inches long!

LOL, thanks Jon. It's annoying when life doesn't give me enough "me" time, LOL.

Nancy, my chard and lettuce was completely murdered by aphids the first (and only) year I planted them. Oddly, I'm not having the aphid problem this year as I did in the past. I'm not sure why. Maybe something I did/didn't plant in the adjacent flower bed (that changes from year to year), or maybe the weather. Not as many cucumber beetles either now that I come to think about it.

Radishes, Strawberries, Kohlrabi, Broccoli. We either never got enough to make it worthwhile or we didn't care that much for the taste (Kohlrabi - but how do you know if you don't try, right?!)

Carrots. In 30 years of gardening I've tried carrots in about 10 of those years in several different gardens. Every time they've come out small and bitter. I kept them evenly watered. I garden in raised beds with loose, fertile soil with lots of added organic material.

I have plenty of success with all my other vegetables.

This year I was determined to get good results and I babied a batch since they were seeded. Still no good.
I can get much better at the farmer's market or even the grocery store.

Done.

I will never plant broccoli again and the link below will show you why.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to broccoli

GHG, those worms will be gone if you spray with BT. But broccoli falls in the same class as corn: less than 0.5lb of produce per square foot. I, too, will discontinue them next year.

I have not been growing broccoli, cauliflower or heading cabbages. I may try cabbage again, but I also have given up on brussels sprouts. We do not get a harvest worth their plant space at this time...however when we expand growing area I might plant them again as they are DH's favorite. I won't plant some varieties of tomatoes again (Black Krim) - but that's OK, there are others to try. Since our climate is changing and is variable I won't say I will never grow these things, I may try again when I feel I will have more success.

ltilton, that was funny about the seedless watermelons.

I won't say never again, but very low on the list are the following:

spinach (chard does very well, spinach goes to seed instantly if it even spouts)

cow peas of all kinds - love them but they do poorly here

melons of all kinds - too bad since I have never met a melon I did not like.

turnips (found out I did not care for their flavor)

tomatillos - they do well but we don't really like them.

Broccoli raab - went instantly to seed

Can't think of any others. That still leaves heaps of veggies to grow so I feel fortunate.

zuni and glib, I have to disagree with you on the corn. That is my favorite thing to grow. I understand about the raccoons, but I live in the burbs so they are not a problem for me.

http://georgiahomegarden.blogspot.com/2011/06/corn-harvest-peaches-and-cream.html

http://georgiahomegarden.blogspot.com/2011/08/corn-harvest-round-2-peaches-and-cream.html

I was contemplating giving up on peppers but I am going to give it one more try, with a few changes. As biscgolf said, I will try Italian sweet peppers. I will start them really early cuz they're so slow; Early February, a month before tomatoes. I also now have seedling heat mats to help start things off. And the piece de resistance: I am going to put them in my parents' greenhouse. I will do the feeding and pest control as needed. They live 14 miles north and we usually find ourselves there once a week or so. All Dad has to do is water them and open and close the vents depending on the weather. He has tomatoes in there anyway. I used to be able to grow CRAZY good peppers and I am trying to figure out what I did right. Starting them earlier was one thing. I had a cold frame then that made them nice and toasty in the spring too.

Here's hoping for better results!

Carrots ... no. I get skinny, miserable little things, not worth the space when they're so cheap.

Radishes -- I have to stand in the personal truth of my family's eating habits. Radishes are satisfying because they're the first thing to come up, but no one really likes eating them, here.

Corn -- Popcorn that comes up by accident is great and produces beautiful ears that are fun to pop. But popcorn that I plant just takes up a lot of space and depletes the soil.

Beans -- did not work for me this year, will have to try again somewhere else.

Tomato seeds saved from hybrids -- an experiment, and now that I know the results I don't have to try that again! :)

Sunflowers -- showed the most promise, produced the greatest disappointment! They grew real tall, and then collapsed under their own weight, tipping over (I'm sure they couldn't withstand the pressure of all the birds landing on them). The roots are a bear to get out of my raised beds.

Kohlrabi. We had a very nice crop last year. Unfortunately we all decided that we hated the flavor.

I'm embarrassed to write this since they're supposed to be so easy to grow but I may give up on green beans. Pole or bush I can't grow them well to save my life. Also, in contrast to the nice straight beans in the stores mine always look like a fish hook or sickle.

Tess' Land Race "currant" tomatoes--grows like a spider web, taking over everything and attempting to strangle innocent passers-by. The little orange tomatoes also crack and spoil REALLY fast.

And this from someone who has seldom met a tomato she didn't like . . .

If I like to eat something enough to try seeds a first time, I'll try as many times as I can find seeds and have room.

Strawberries, OTOH, tried many times and it always ended badly.

Eggplant. Ever since I started year round gardening, meaning growing Cole family in winter, flea beetles have taken a hold. Regardless the variety, timing, in ground or in container, or how frequent I use DE, flea beetles are everywhere. The few fruit I manage to harvest turned out to be poor in quality and quantity.

Two more I forgot. Tiny Tim cherry tomatoes-tough, chewy skins and a sharp acidic flavor. Golden Bantam corn-full sun, lots of fertilizer, regular watering, and none got over 5 feet tall or ever developed full ears.

Still a bit too early to tell here. After reading Carol Deppe's Resilient Gardener book, most of my garden includes potatoes, soup beans & corn (for corn bread) but I can think of a couple of crops that were just so-so:

Buttercrunch lettuce... more like Bitter-munch. But that was probably my fault. I planted it a couple of weeks later than I should have.

Black Cherry tomato. They taste OK, but not ripening very fast. I'm going back to Matt's Wild, Peacevine or Sweet 100.

And maybe fewer onions. I went a little crazy on them this spring, and they're doing well. But 130 onions is probably more than one person really needs!

Vtguitargirl, I won't bother with Black Cherry again either. They're a nice size, but taste was only ok. Nothing comes close to Sun Gold!

Reisetraube tomatoes. Not productive, late and blech! No better than grocery store cherries.
Next year, sun gold and black cherry.

Corn - I don't have the space to make it worthwhile. Onions too. I didn't find homegrown to be any better than store bought. I also don't do carrots.

I'm trying to decide about Kellogg's Breakfast tomatoes. They are huge and truly delicious, but it doesn't look like I'll get more than 6 from the plant. I am torn. I love the flavor, but I have a small city garden, and every square inch counts! Sungolds are a no-brainer keeper. They reward every trip out to check on the garden.

I think I am done with butterbeans. I planted Christmas this year. Got huge vines and not more than a couple handfulls of beans. Also planted bush ones. They produced very heavily, but they are so hard to pick and shell! I am going to stick with cowpeas next year. We like their flavor better too.

not as MANY tomatoes for sure, probably not radishes or carrots either. and probably not beans either- cheap enough in the store. Found a great pick your own farm nearby and tomatoes and cukes were super cheap so i'll probably do that next yr and grow more pepper and salad veggies.

Fava beans. A freak spring heat wave hit just as they flowered and few got pollinated. The beans I did get took a ton of time to shell and then peel the beans within. A lot of trouble for a tablespoon of shelled fava beans.

I'm surprised how many of you said carrots! This was my first time growing them. Although I had to seed three times to get them to germinate (kept starting to early)... once they started growing they haven't stopped! I grew them in a large plastic storage bin in regular potting soil with extra pearlite. They are long, orange and REALLY fat! I have pulled a few and they are tasty and sweet too! I used plain old Burpee carrot seeds from home depot!

I had a hard time with spinach this spring- too hot I guess, it bolted really quick. But I plan to try again this fall.

Curcubits were the death of my garden this year. They all got squash vine borers and died very quickly. What kind of zucchini plant only gives you ONE zucchini!!?
Any ideas why my swiss chard just won't grow? It's been making new leaves but they're staying so tiny!

No more squash. No more pumpkins. The squash bug battle is just too much. They haven't bothered the melons or cukes but without squash or pumpkins to attack I may be in for a rude surprise.

Corn, I have never been able to get a corn cob to harvest (and yes that is singular on purpose) I tried 3 sisters style this year thinking maybe that would work, tried 3 different planting times throughout the year. Corn is something we would eat if we grew, but really shouldn't eat much of (carbs and weight) So I'll just buy my few ears a year, and my couple of bags of Hodgens Mills corn meal and call it good.

Watermelons, to much space for a small yield. Lettuce, bugs love the leaves and bolts way to quickly in my climate.

brocolli raab

Black Cherry tomato, the size is nice but the flavor is bland and the yield is very low because they take FOREVER TO RIPEN.

Yeah, I agree with the black cherry tomatoes. I know a lot of people really like this variety, but to me, they were only a little above average in flavor, still not anywhere near the "Sungold" standard.

cauliflower. Bitter from my garden, great from the store.
Still working on carrots. I will not be defeated! I think I need to thin them ruthlessly, which goes against my pacifist nature.
Orach. pretty in salad, but the seeds don't stay viable for very long, so not worth it to keep buying it every year.

To all who have given up on squash because of vine borers -- choose a moschata (immune to vine borers) type.

To all who have given up on squash because of squash bugs -- plant onions or garlic in the hills (i use garlic). On the years I've done that, the squash bugs are not a problem.Though it is fun to spray them with slightly soapy water and watch them die. (my pacifism only extends to plants, not to rabbits, deer, or bugs.)

Kohlrabi, it's grown well here in the fall and we've used them in soups and mixed roasted root veggies, but kohlrabi is difficult to cut up and has too many tough spots to trim. Will plant more beets and carrots to make up the difference.

I did stop planting okra several years ago but will sneak some back into the garden this season (not a fav of VgQn)

The kohlrabi is great dipped in ranch dressing.

Turnips (found out I did not care for their texture)
Both white & purple types.

Jerusalem artichokes! They taste great but they act like an invasive species. It has taken my three years to get them out of one raised bed. If you do plant them, plant them in a container so you can isolate them. They are pretty to grow, the birds like them and they are related to sunflowers.

potato bin. done with that project/experiment. epic effin failure.
carrots im almost over. had a few of the red ones this year that may keep me interested for one more season.
hoping for corn AGAIN this year. i only plant about 50, but i plant twice in a season, most ive eaten is 6 ears. between rats/birds/bugs/hurricanes, i cant win. trying again but purely for educational use
going back to things this year i had success with first year. anaheim peppers, jalapenos, bell peppers, MORE tomatoes(first year had waaaaay too many, scaled it down, decided id rather have too many than not enough)
doubling my red potatoes this year, as i seem to be able to grow them by accident.

I'm surprised to see all the anti-kohlrabi comments. I've found that to be a great vegetable in its raw and simple form. Now growing is a different matter. They seem to grow very slowly in the south.

I probably won't plant radishes any more. They grow well, but the flavor is so intense! Like horseradish or something. It comes from the freshness I'm sure, but this is one case where the older store varieties are milder and are more edible.