Standing in the Grow Local Food poly tunnel surveying the double digging that has been done where there were cucumbers earlier in the year (don’t worry we have some left to do so don’t all feel sad that you have missed out), grower Ian was contemplating what could be most profitably grown there next year.
Aubergines have been tried but over the two years that we persevered, we found that the poly tunnel was never warm enough to really make this a crop that filled up the Go Local Food weekly crop share on a regular basis. So that’s a nice idea but not really good with regards to content in your crop share.
The apple cucumbers this year didn’t produce enough to even be added to one crop share for one week. These appear to be another indoor crop that are never going to grow enough to warrant the space they take. Maybe these are something for the home grower to try in a space in a warm greenhouse.
We have also tried, in the past, Physalis (cape gooseberry) but these can be a space taker because the fruits are so small you need an immense number of plants to provide a crop that can be used in the weekly crop share. Also they can be on the slow side to ripen so take up valuable space which should be used for successional growing to keep the crop shares coming.
It has been suggested that Go Local Food tries sweet potatoes. However these involve a lot of preparation and really grow best in heated conditions as this link from the Royal Horticultural Society explains. It makes an interesting read and explains why it’s unlikely that we really have the facility to be able to grow these.
It could be that dwarf French beans might form part of the crop but whether enough will fit into the space is a question of debate at the moment.
So at the moment the decision is not taken.
Go Local Food Ltd 
Shall we grow spinach to have leaves 12months a year.
Jola