I had some things that didn't work at all & some things that worked great. It seems to vary year to year. This year my crop of yellow & green zuchini's were only so so, while last year I had an amazing amount, like more than I could ever cook. This year I think I only had a dozen of each kind. I cook them on the grill with a little bit of cheese, onions & tomatoes.
For one, I have had a woodchuck living underneath my shed -- when I would drive home from work at lunchtime (to walk my dog) -- he would be there right in my garden area. This also affected my tomato's -- I had quite a bit of large plants with a huge amount of green tomato's that disappeared.
Spinach -- great huge crop this year. I use spinach in everything -- also like to cook it with stewed tomatoes/chick peas. Yellow (bananna peppers) -- huge amount this year - green peppers, really extremely CRAPPY growing season this year, a rarity.... cucumbers, again, I blame the woodchuck.. I usually have a really great crop of cucumbers and this year I think I had something like three or so.
Eggplant -- I had an amazing amount of white eggplants this year. I use a light amount of breadcrumbs, sharp Vermont cheese & my home made (quite thick) spaghetti sauce. YUM..
My purple / Japanese eggplants really didn't thrive this year. I think only two or three grew nice this year, whereas with my white eggplants I had about sixty.
Huge crop of kale, all herbs have grown really well -- too much -- certain herbs just spread and spread.
Another crop that has done really really well is acorn squash, whereas my butternut squash didn't grow very well at all this year. My red peppers grew well but my green peppers didn't grow at all this year.
Potatoes grew well this year, as did my onions.. same plot of land my carrots didn't do well, like "I can only find maybe four or so" ??
The soil where I live is really good BUT after you dig about six inches then you start to come upon rocks and shale. The quality of your soil is what makes your garden grow or not grow. I do sometimes go into the woods behind my property and dig out soil and move it into my garden area. I also have a pretty big compost pile but each and every time I dig there I find a deer tick on me.
I really really LOVE to grow vegetables and herbs at my home & feel really badly about the horrendous weather that will be here all too soon. I live in upstate NY and during Jan/Feb/March my entire plot of land can be covered with a thick layer of ice. YUK