Beans (bush): Dragon’s Tongue did great, Maxibel were very productive and attractive, Antigua not nearly as good, chicken wire protected bed from bunnies
Beans (dried): weren’t productive (maybe shaded by dense corn plants) bunnies kept away with chicken wire fencing when seedlings were young
Beans (pole): purple did great, try to find Garden of Eden seed again, Kentucky Wonder & Blue Lake did better than Kentucky Blue (beside Philosopher’s Stone)
Fava Beans: did great – productive, no aphids or wooly bear caterpillars
Peas: spring crop productive, Tall Telephone germinated poorly (next to Philosopher’s Stone), Sugar Snaps didn’t seem right – check seed source. Fall crop was highly productive, planted at the right time and covered with shade cloth to keep soil cool
Soybeans: did very well, but needed to infill plant twice, some Japanese beetle damage to leaves
2019 Nightshades (end of season notes)
Eggplants: failed to thrive – Orient Express & Japanese White Egg produced better, Black Beauty way too slow (try different variety next year), JWE & BB fruits had lots of small holes – insects (research)
Peppers: not a good year – disease? nutritional problem? over-watering? Potted plant experiment was inconclusive – pots were shaded and plants were from nursery. Lunch Box did better. Corno di Toro and Cheyenne did less well.
Potatoes: very good, do again
Tomatillos: always take too long to produce fruit, fertilize more?, mysterious picking happened mid-season, topped plants when Brussels sprouts were topped to reduce # of smaller fruits
Tomatoes: beautiful plants, excellent productivity, good fertilizing & pruning, Actinovate used in soil before planting and every few weeks for most of summer, lots of hornworms! Also serious rat predation – inflatable snakes helped late in season, maybe try chicken wire? Topped plants near end of season to put energy into ripening fruit. Place taller cherry tomato bed on north side of other bed. Consider non-wood stakes to limit soil-borne disease. Ramapo plants were strange – check seed supplier. Randy Boys not as vigorous or productive as others.
2019 Root Crops (end of season notes)
Beets: excellent crop, resilient and productive
Jerusalem Artichokes: flourished in same space as previous 3 years
Radishes: early crop did fine. Late crop okay too
Rutabagas: excellent – good germination and thinning – one was the size of a softball, a few were tiny
Sweet Potatoes: did great, good yield, had more Murasaki than expected
Turnips (cooking): very good, do again
Turnips (salad): early crop was incredible – best ever. late crop never fully matured – not good real estate
2019 Squash Family (end of season notes)
Butternuts: high yield, biggest came from 3 sisters plot. Try fertilizing more, maybe grow new super-tasty variety next year?
Cucumbers: good yield, the right ratio of slicing/pickling (4/2), slicing type did better than pickling, mildew not as bad, one plant ended up in 3 sisters plot
Delicata: produced well, planted more this year (fewer pumpkins), vine borers were a problem & were in actual squashes this year
Pumpkins: did well, produced 1-2 per plant (better than previous years)
Watermelon: much better this year, yummy and big, soil-borne disease took half the seedlings after planting, plant twice as many seedlings again next year, rat predation on later fruit
Zucchini: green did better than yellow, fewer borers, second crop didn’t reach full potential again
The Garden Gets a New Gate
The first piece of the garden’s accessibility improvement project went up on Saturday: a custom-made garden gate. Though it appeared in one day, it had been planned for years and constructed over the course of months. Later this season, we will be constructing raised garden beds flanking the gate and replacing the fencing, starting with the entry side of the garden. See more drawings here.
Funding for this project was made possible through the Community Preservation Act as part of the Robbins Farm Park Improvement Project implemented in other parts of the park last year (which also included a stone dust path to the garden from Eastern Ave). Accessibility issues were identified through a Town-wide study of Arlington’s public parks conducted in 2014.
We are grateful for the opportunity to make these improvements to the garden and hope to have them completed within the next few years.
Spring Greens
Finally, they are here – our first lettuce and spinach! The spinach has done particularly well this year. It’s a new variety: Regiment from High Mowing Seeds.
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