Notes to the Future

This year’s weather gave us mild spring temperature swings, followed by a warm and humid summer, a mild autumn with virtually no rain, and no hard frost through November.
It was a great year for carrots, flowers, greens, and nightshades, a slightly less great (but not terrible) year for alliums, brassicas, legumes, root crops and squashes. The standout crops were the peppers, beets, spinach (standard and perpetual), Swiss chard, lettuce, and kohlrabi.
New crops this year were mostly flowers: Bachelor’s Buttons, Calendula and Stock, along with Tokyo Bekana, a lettuce-like green in the brassica family.
Work at the garden began with organizing and fitting out the garden’s new shed, a project that continued through the season. And we added a free-on-curb tent to temporarily shade our harvest on hot sunny days. Other infrastructure projects included building the second metal trellis for the squashes along the fence.
Reconstruction of the park playground was an ever-present feature of the park this season, canceling the Friends of Robbins Farm Park’s regular Spring and Fall Cleanup Days and Field Day. The Friends did have a Town Day booth in September, that we participated in. A playground ribbon cutting was held Nov 23.
None of this would have been possible without the skill, ingenuity, persistence, and genuine good humor of our amazing gardeners: Alan, Bev, Brian, Carol, Celia, David, Elisabeth, Lisa, Martha, Mike, Nicole, Pamela, Shakti, Steven, Suzy, Tim, and Wendy. Thank you all!

Egyptian Walking Onions recovered well from the 2023 stormwater washout. Added compost and replanted more bulblets late summer. Bed filled in nicely by end of season.
Garlic very good, do again.
Onions and Shallots were mediocre. Most seedlings produced bulbs, though we did lose a few early in the season. Probably suffered from mildew again. Continue to cloche for the first week and try to protect from cold/wet conditions in spring, maybe re-cloche in cold weather.
Onion sets did well. Plantings along edge of tomato bed were edged and weeded better this year!
Leeks grew at two different speeds, with some lagging behind for some unknown reason. All eventually matured.
Scallions did well and lasted through the season. Remember to feed them regularly.

General Notes: early – and heavy – infestation of cabbage worms this year.
Broccoli first crop heads were less regular and even, with decent color. Second crop was less vigorous than last year, with smaller than average heads and good color. Transplanted extra seedlings into Honeynut bed. Remember to harvest broccoli stems – they are delicious peeled.
Brussels sprouts were productive; sprouts were clean and tasty, though not large. Plants were short and reasonably sturdy. Harvested tops and kept tops clear afterward to avoid aphids. Consider fertilizing more next year.
Cabbage first crop was solid, both green and red varieties. Second crop was a bit more variable. Try planting farther apart or intersperse smaller conical type with larger savoy type. Savoy produced well. Conical variety had some predation and one split before we harvested it, yet they were the sweetest and most buttery cabbages ever! Transplanted extra seedlings into Soybean bed.
Cauliflower first crop produced well with a short harvest window. Second crop had some stunted heads and some normal ones. Research what causes “buttoning”. Consider a different fall variety? Transplanted extra seedlings into Bush Bean bed.
Collards were good though underwhelming again, despite trying different varieties. Research varieties well-suited to northern climate.
Gai Lan (sprouting broccoli) grew one row (4 plants) of two types. Produced a handful of stems each week for 7-8 weeks. Would be a desirable early crop if we’re willing to take more space from the regular spring brassica bed.
Kales had terrible germination, despite multiple direct seedings. Finally bought seed locally (available varieties) and germinated indoors on heating mat. (Kale needs surprisingly high temperatures to germinate!) Substitute dinosaur variety good, but not curly variety. Start indoors in April next year for planting in May.
Kohlrabi first crop was perfect! Second crop also did well. Transplanted extra seedlings into Watermelon-Cucumber bed.

Carrots had good germination and our thinning improved from last year, but could still be better. Cover with remay after seeding. Second planting was a bit early. Third planting was best managed. All basic varieties did well: Sugarsnax, Yaya, Dolciva, Cosmic Purple, and Yellowstone. Consider replacing Yaya with slightly larger Bolero. Don’t plant Dolciva in last planting because of days to harvest.
Celery did well again this year. Used boards along outside of rows to blanche (rather than wrapping individual plants). Unfortunately, critters dug between plants and leek bed at end of the season.
Parsnips had terrible germination again. Seeded three times and still only had a meager showing. Late planting also meant we had very few parsnips to harvest in fall and a very few to leave for spring. Consider returning to pelleted seed or seed tape and cover with remay.

Edible Flower bed: did really well, will likely become a tradition. Varieties of Bachelors Button, Calendula, and Nasturtium were all good; Stock was disappointing. Next year’s flowers should be different than this year’s so we can alternate between sets. Consider Sesame and/or Snapdragons next year.
Asparagus had decent harvest for the number of plants. Replaced a few plants in spring that did not overwinter. In July, tops of plants thinned and bottoms thickened. Fewer berries than last year, and fewer lady bug larvae.
Corn had good height and produced a reasonable amount of attractive ears, though some ears weren’t fully pollinated. Harvested a few too early and kernels didn’t mature off the stalk. Some caterpillar damage at tops of ears. Plants not super sturdy. Consider building a new support structure.
Marigolds worked well in tomato, eggplant, and pepper beds again. New variety plants are a good size, but flowers are small for cutting. A few self-seeded plants were allowed to grow around garden, were better for cutting.
Okra had a slow start due to cool weather after planting, though no seedlings were lost. The plants rallied in the summer heat and humidity, becoming large and productive. The bed was somewhat shaded by larger & denser sunflowers and peppers.
Saffron produced well. A few migrated into the path. Consider digging up, dividing, and replanting next June.
Sesame generally did well. (Seedlings were started and planted at the right time.) Flowers were decorative and produced enough seed for everyone to take some home. Yet, seeds are small and time-consuming to process. If growing again, consider a Chelsea Chop and just grow a few in flower bed.
Sunflowers did great, with some insect damage to leaves again. Viable seeds were all taken by critters despite efforts to cover a head until seed fully matured. Next year, cut a section and remove from garden to collect seed.

Arugula generally did well. As usual, the first 3 seedings bolted due to heat. Last 2 seedings produced through end of season.
Bok Choy spring crop (only Prize Choy) did well, with less bolting overall. Second crop did well; included Shanghai, which lasted longer in cool weather. Transplanted extra seedlings into Watermelon-Cucumber bed.
Lettuce from both indoor seedings did beautifully. (Seed degradation discovered with first indoor seeding; reordered all seed from previous years. Suspect packets were left out in sun and heat during multiple direct sowings in 2023. Consider rationing what is brought to the garden.) Subsequent direct seedings did surprisingly well, despite summer heat. Final planting on 8/31 was probably 1-2 weeks too late. Try Merlot dark red variety next year. Tokyo Bekana grew fast and well as an experiment in the lettuce bed, but is a brassica and shouldn’t be grown with lettuce in future.
Malabar Spinach did well again on the tomato frame. Mild winter allowed volunteer seedlings to sprout in garden, though they lagged far behind those started indoors.
Mustard crops both did well this year. Good maintenance of seedlings and plants produced harvests all season long. Some mildew on older leaves at end of season.
Perpetual Spinach was wonderful this year. Didn’t cover for leaf miner, yet had very little damage. Was spaced well, and produced well through the end of the season.
Shiso indoor seeding failed, but plants self-seeded in garden and those seedlings were grown on. Did well!
Spinach was perfect. Started all plants indoors and covered bed with fence-mesh frame and insect screen. Some plants bolted before harvest, so we might begin and end harvest earlier.
Swiss Chard was wonderful this year. Didn’t cover for leaf miner, yet had very little damage. Was spaced well, and produced well through the end of the season.