Bush Beans (Dragon Langerie HM, Maxibel HM, Roma II BC, Royalty Purple E): new purple variety was good: went in 2 weeks earlier, produced first, finished earlier. Dragon’s Tongue didn’t do as well as usual. New Romano type disappointing (try pole type again?). Green variety good. Bed was somewhat eroded in hurricane. Very last harvest when first pole beans harvested.
Dried Beans (Good Mother Stallard BC): germinated, vined and produced really well, but corn variety was too short and weak, so needed to add secondary support.
Pole Beans (Kentucky Blue B, Kentucky Wonder R, Trionfo Violetto B, King of the Garden R): all did well, but a section was washed out by hurricane; purple was earliest and best overall. Kentucky Blue more productive than Kentucky Wonder. Limas need to be planted mid-June; so leave space for them in the pea bed. Trellis twine eroded by end of season with the excess wind and rain.
Fava Beans (Vroma J): spotty germination, infill planted, some aphid damage controlled with insecticidal soap, but produced a good crop of large pods.
Early Peas (Sugar Snap J, Mammoth Melting Sugar R, Champion of England R): did well, except for poor germination on Champion of England. There seemed to be cross-breeding happening between the snap and snow types.
Late Peas (Cascadia HM): germination good, especially under 4 layers of shade cloth; productive and long harvest window, despite many young seedlings eaten by rodents. Provide some support next year.
Soybeans (Tankuro BC): very good, do again.
Notes to the Future
2021 Nightshades (end of season notes)
Eggplants (Galine J, Orient Express J, Japanese White Egg BC): simply incredible! productive and excellent-quality, despite some wind damage in hurricane. Interplanted marigolds worked well. Next year remove any wilted leaves when they appear and move white variety to front.
Sweet Peppers (King Arthur J, King of the North BC, Lunchbox Mix J, Mini Bell Mix BC, Corno di Toro HM, Shishito BC): excellent year overall, but still some insect damage – try using a sticky trap and/or alternating the sweet and hot peppers and/or spraying early with neem oil for pepper maggots. King of the North excellent. Mini Bell a bust.
Hot Peppers (Ancho Poblano R, Baron J, Cheyenne R, Hot Rod J, Hot Lemon B, Thai Dragon R): very good, do again. Both poblanos did well. Hot Lemon did better than Cheyenne when grown in same pot at entry, try 2 of same variety if growing in pots again.
Potatoes (Red Chieftain HM, Peter Wilcox HM, Adirondack Blue HM): all did well, didn’t lose any plants, worked hard to keep up with potato beetles, all ready for harvest at the same time.
Tomatillos (Green Tomatillo R): great year! Some early beetle damage controlled, plants were less tall, but produced large fruits that conveniently split when ready to harvest; fewer immature fruit at end of season. Fertilization schedule excellent.
Cherry Tomatoes (Sun Gold R, Esterina HM, Supersweet 100 R): not a great year for the cherry types. Supersweet 100 failed, Sun Gold eaten more than usual by critters, Esterina did okay in pot at entry arbor, provide more support strings if growing there next year.
Standard Tomatoes (Fourth of July R, Cloudy Day B, Brandy Boy B, Ramapo R, Red October B, Bolseno J, Jaune Flamme HM, Bodacious B, Darkstar B, Damsel J): a good year overall. New structure and clips worked, but use sturdier string and secure it better in ground with corkscrew stakes next year. Jaune Flamme failed. Red October hit by hornworm.
Paste Tomatoes (Juliet J, Plum Perfect HM): Juliet was mechanically damaged (circumstances unknown) growing in pot at entry, but still produced. Plum Perfect very good, do again.
2021 Root Crops (end of season notes)
Beets (Crosby’s Egyptian BC, Red Ace R, Detroit Dark Red R): first crop: very good, but had some leaf miner damage; cover early next year. Second crop failed as young seedlings, damaged by hurricane but may have also needed fertilizing.
Jerusalem Artichokes (private stock): excellent year! Two sets of flowers on 10’ tall plants with solid harvest.
Radishes (Cherry Belle R, Sora HM, Pink Beauty BC): first crop good, try staggering planting by a few weeks and put in double rows. Second crop a bit spotty, some rodent predation on seedlings, but good harvest.
Daikon Radishes (Daikon HM): planting first crop in spring was a mistake, spring plantings bolt. Second planting in mid-August matured, but should have been thinned better.
Rutabagas (Helenor J):very spotty germination, seeded twice and still not many, plants that came up did well, try covering seed with remay next year.
Sweet Potatoes (private stock): everything went well until rodents found underground tubers and started feasting on them, harvest couldn’t wait until after hard frost, tubers were good quality but some were damaged.
Salad Turnips (Hakuei J, Mikado R): seeded both varieties for first crop, both were good but Mikado germinated more evenly; consider staggering first planting. Second crop was only Hakurei, with most of the seedlings eaten by rodents.
Turnips (Golden Globe HM): germination was spotty, infill seeded a bit late, not all matured, but generally good.
2021 Squash Family (end of season notes)
Butternut squash (Metro PMR J, Honeynut HM): both varieties very productive, feeding schedule good; thinning leaves helped with air flow and reduced mildew; Honeynut smaller with excellent flavor.
Cantaloupe (Minnesota Midget R): melons were small and only a few. Sadly, another unsatisfying melon experiment.
Cucumbers (Summer Dance Hybrid B, Jackson Supreme J): mildew not bad, but many plants had premature die-off from wilt again; remove plants at first sign of disease and look for wilt-resistant varieties.
Delicata squash (Sugar Dumpling HM): less productive than last year, vine borers took many plants (and some squashes) too soon despite alternating planting with butternuts. Try placing sticky traps 8-10’ away, grow marigolds with them?
Pumpkins: (Baby Bear J): produced 1 pumpkin per plant, but badly hit by borers and didn’t survive surgeries; feeding schedule good.
Summer Squash (Smooth Operator HM): best yellow squash so far, very productive and lasted almost as long as the zucchini.
Zucchini (Dunja HM): both crops did very well (gave second crop space in brassica bed). Put on regular fertilizing schedule; consider planting last crop of arugula around edge of bed.
2021 Garden Pests
| Month | First Sighting | Insect | Plant | Treatment used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | Leaf miners | Beets, swiss chard | agrofabric (late) | |
| June | 5/28 | Aphids (black) | Fava, borrage | Insecticidal soap (2x / week) |
| June | 6/3 | Colorado potato beetle | Potatoes, tomatillos | Hand removal |
| June | 5/28 | Cabbage worms (green) | Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli | Hand removal |
| June | 6/19 | Squash vine borer moths | summer and winter squash | Lures/sticky traps |
| July | ? | Tomato horn worm | Red October tomato | Hand removal |
| Late July/Aug | 7/24 | Squash vine borer grubs | summer squash, pumpkins, delicata | Hand removal (surgery) |
| Aug | 8/14 | Cucumber beetle | cucumber | None |
| Aug | 8/14 | Aphids (gray) | Brussels sprouts, tuscan kale | Insecticidal soap (1-2x/wk) |
Leaf miners
Leaf minors got into the spinach and beets before we were able to cover them and caused significant leaf damage. We covered the beets with agrofabric after the early signs of damage, but that seemed to make it worse since the leaf miner flies were trapped inside the cover.
Aphids
28 May — first sighting on Favas. Treat 1-2x per week with slightly weaker mix of insecticidal soap to avoid leaf burn. Reduced aphids and successfully keeping them under control with regular application. Similarly, the insecticidal soap was effective on the borrage which was affected by aphids at the same time, but was also successfully cleared of aphids after several treatments.
Cabbage worms
28 May — found on broccoli. We had relatively few cabbage worms this year and the ones that we found seemed to be on the broccoli and cauliflower rather than the cabbage. There have also been a few cross-stripe (black white and yellow) cabbage worms found on the brassicas in addition to the green cabbage worms.
Potato beetles
3 Jun — beetles and eggs found on potatoes
10 Jun — eggs found on tomatillos
17 Jun –larva on potato leaves
Relatively minor damage by potato beetles this year.
Squash vine borer (SVB) moths
May 29th — 3 traps set using lures from IPM (3 for $6+S&H) and general pest glue traps from Agway. No moths were caught using the general pest glue traps over the next three weeks.
Jun 19th — switched out the general glue traps for these yellow delta insect monitoring cards from Arbico (10 for $11+S&H) and got immediate results with the first moth caught within a couple of hours on the same day the traps were set. By Wed 6/23 we had caught about 15 SVB moths and replaced two of the insect monitoring cards with fresh ones. We continues to switch out the traps about once per 7-10 days over the next 2 months. By Aug 7th, the frequency of moths in any of the traps was very low, so we put away the traps for the season.
6/19: initial placement near summer squash 
6/19: initial placement near pumpkins 
6/19: initial placement near delicata 
6/23: ~6 moths near summer squash [replaced] 
6/23: 3 near pumpkins 
6/23: ~6 near delicata [replaced] 
6/26: 1 near summer squash 
6/26: ~7 near pumpkins [replaced] 
6/26: 3 near delicata 
6/29: ~12 near summer squash [replaced] 
6/29: ~ 15 near delicata [replaced] 
6/29: ~3 near pumpkins (lure fell off) 
7/03 – ~5 near summer squash [replaced] 
7/03 – none near pumpkins (put lure back on) 
7/03 – ~6(?) near delicata 
7/07 – ~12 near summer squash [replaced] 
7/07 – 0 near pumpkins (lure had fallen off/put it back on) [replaced] 
7/07 – 3 near delicata 
7/10 – 0 near summer squash (lure fell off/put it back on) 
7/10 near delicata after replacement (missed pic of trap near pumpkins) 
7/10 – ~5 near delicata [replaced] 
7/18 — ~6 near summer squash (lure fell off) [reversed trap to unused side] 
7/18 — ~4 near pumpkins (lure fell off) 
7/17 — ~5 near delicata (lure fell off) [replaced] 
7/24/21 — ~8 near delicata [replaced] 
7/27/21 — 0 near summer squash 
7/27/21 — ~7 near delicata 
7/27/21 — 0 near pumpkins 
7/31/21 — ~3 near delicata 
7/31/21 – 0 near pumpkins [replaced] 
8/3 – 0 near summer squash 
8/3 – 1 near pumpkins 
8/7/21 – 1 near delicata
Final tally of borer moths caught with the lures and sticky traps
June 19-30th ~37 moths
July 1-31st ~59 moths
Aug 1-7th ~ 2 moths [removed traps on 7th]
The first clear sign of borers damaging the squash vines was mid-to-late July. Frass was found on the summer squash plants first. On 7/24, Lisa extracted 4 borers from the summer squash including some relatively large borers, so they had probably already begun to do damage in the prior week or two. By the following Saturday, 7/31, the pumpkins were clearly suffering from stem damage and more borers were extracted from the pumpkins and summer squash. On 8/7 at least 3 pumpkins and 3 delicata plants had surgery which involved taking a steak knife, cutting a vertical slit along the stem where there is fresh frass, and removing the SVB grub with tweezers. The cut to the stem can damage the plant, but it has at least a chance of surviving. We pack dirt over the location where the stem was cut to encourage the stem to send out new roots to support the plant. If we leave the borers without extracting them, they will certainly kill the plant within a week or two, so surgery is usually the better path.
8/7: Multiple borers were found in several plants (e.g. extracted 2 or more borers from a single plant). All of the pumpkins were in very bad shape from borer damage and surgery. Similarly 2-3 of the delicata plants have severe borer damage and had significant damage from the surgeries as well. The second planting of summer squash does not seem to be affected (so far).
8/14: All pumpkin plants have died and several delicata plants have also died from borer damage. The second planting of summer squash has some signs of borer damage.
8/21: All but one delicata plant has died from borer damage. The honeynut and butternut squash appear to be resistant. The mystery squash (possibly spaghetti squash) has borer damage, but is still reasonably healthy.
large areas of frass on the stem of a delicata plant 
pumpkin stem with frass 
wilting pumpkin plant, damaged by SVB
Cucumber Wilt
Cucumber wilt is caused by a bacteria spread to the plant by cucumber beetles feeding on the leaves. Once the wilt begins, the entire plant will be infected and will die within a few weeks. The first sign of cucumber wilt was Sat 8/14 and only appears to affect one of the cucumber plants so far. On Sat 8/21, still only one plant shows signs of wilt, but it has spread over more of the plant.
2021 online Seed Selection Meeting – January 23
Our annual seed selection meeting will be held on Saturday, January 23 from 10 am to Noon. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be held virtually. Please contact us to get info to join the meeting.
Everyone interested in the crops and varieties we plan to 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 upcoming gardening season!
