Notes to the Future

Beans (bush): chicken wire worked well for bunny protection, germination problems with yellow varieties, lasted just long enough to meet first pole bean harvest. Infilled yellow bean several times; could germination issues be related to the company we ordered from (not our usual source)?
Beans (dried): saved (from bunnies) by chicken wire, though not as many perfect beans due to lots of rain late in season It would be helpful for these beans if we could remove the chicken wire once the beans were tall enough. We couldn’t do this because several of the squash plants had grown through the chicken wire.
Beans (pole): saved (from bunnies) by chicken wire, purple variety was early & good, green variety was later & good, Romano types weren’t as good as Garden Of Eden.
Fava Beans: best yield yet, but hit by wooly bear caterpillars.
Peas: uneven seeding & washout from rainstorm, yet good yield from spring planting. Fall planting had typical poor germination (high soil temp).
Soybeans: chicken wire worked great to prevent bunny damage, germination not great, replanted some areas twice.

Eggplants: all needed staking, Asian type most productive, Italian type hit by insects and dropped off early, white variety less productive.
Peppers: did well, reasonable yield. Matured a little slower than patio plants at home. Pick off any flowers on seedlings or low on the plant. Avoid extra nitrogen.
Potatoes: all did well. Might do better following the bean bed in rotation.
Tomatillos: grew 3 plants (rather than 2), healthy, productive plants but small fruit.
Tomatoes: awesome! Left extra leaders, fertilized every 2 weeks, mulched and finger pruned. Only disappointment was determinate Defiant. Possibly increase spacing between plants since the extra leaders spread I think I lost control of the pruning at some point in the season. It’s a quandary because we don’t want to decrease the number of tomato plants but things were definitely out of control. Oh, and the clover died off because of the shading from the tomatoes. Rutgers tomato did poorly- probably should take it (and the Defiant) off the list.

Beets: only one crop this year, seedlings were weak, but those that survived did well. Likes pH neutral soil; try adding 10% elemental boron.
Jerusalem Artichokes: grew well, lots of flowers and tubers.
Radishes: standard varieties were fine, daikon variety wasn’t worth the effort, late season planting partially washed out by rainstorm, try growing with salad turnips after onions.
Rutabagas: interesting experiment, needed to be thinned and given space.
Sweet Potatoes: remove all slips from tubers to produce more (don’t let them get too large), experiment with deeper planting.
Turnips (cooking): did well.
Turnips (salad): early crop did well, late crop (after onions) was awesome.

Butternuts: good yield, needed fertilizer mid-season.
Cucumbers: good yield, but short season due to wilt/mildew. Distributed cucumbers weren’t as productive or disease resistant this season. Heavy feeder, give frequent fertilizer.
Delicata: hit with borers, but still reasonably productive.
Pumpkins: good yield despite borers, needed mid-season fertilizing. Mildew/wilt left a few small immature pumpkins.
Watermelon: seedlings almost wiped out by mechanical damage, only one melon.
Zucchini: seedlings were strong, plants hit hard by borers, but good, long yield from both varieties, try starting a second crop earlier than in 2017. Consider covering squash with insect screen until the first blossoms emerge to reduce chance of moths laying eggs. I agree that it would be good to try an insect screen experiment next year, possibly with not all of the plants because of space concerns.

Save the date – our annual Seed Selection Meeting will be on Saturday, February 3rd in Community Room of the Community Safety Building from 9:30 am to Noon(ish).

Everyone interested in the crops & varieties we will grow at Robbins Farm Garden this season is welcome. Prospective new members of the garden group are especially encouraged to attend and join in the discussion. Bring your seed catalogs and great expectations for the season to come!

You will find the Community Safety Building (Arlington Police Headquarters) at 112 Mystic Street. When you enter the building, go directly up the stairs; the community room door will be on your left.

Garlic: very good, do again
Leeks: very good, do again
Onions: sets did well, seed varieties did great, but lost a few Walla Wallas to rot, start picking them earlier
Scallions: did well, try broadcasting for higher yield or give more real estate, thin assiduously
Shallots: very good, do again
Walking Onions: did well, don’t forget to replant bulblets next year without Melissa