Uncategorized

At the end of the 2025 season, soil from four beds was sampled and sent to the UMass extension for analysis. (Thanks, Mike!) These are the reports:

• Bed A (peas, pole beans) S251117-108
• Beds B-C (eggplants, fava beans, cucumbers, squashes, watermelons) S251117-109
• Bed D (bush beans, soybeans) S251117-110
• Bed 1 (tomatoes) S251117-112

A guide on how to interpret the results is here. There are other references at the end of the reports.

Soil organic matter ranged from 4.8% to 5.4%, which is fine, even in the “new” perimeter beds. Salt and lead content were all low. We did not order the extra test for nitrogen, but we know we always need to add nitrogen, mainly fertilizer and manure.

pH in all the beds was 6.1-6.5, which is a little on the low side for crops that like sweeter soil, like the brassicas. Reference here. Potatoes however prefer a lower pH, ideally 5-5.5, so we should never lime that bed. (High pH promotes scab.) It would be good to have a reliable pH tester at the garden so we could tweak the pH for each specific crop.

The magnesium level was high in all the beds except A. Both dolomitic limestone and wood ash add magnesium to the soil, so we should not use dolomite limestone and be careful using wood ash. High magnesium can disrupt the absorption of other nutrients.

In all the beds except B-C, the potassium level was low or very low, so it’s likely the garden is generally a bit deficient, and might explain the poor performance of the tomatoes and beans. A good organic source for potassium is wood ash, but it must be used with caution because it can raise pH rapidly and can be caustic. We should never add wood ash where potatoes are to be grown. This article recommends using 1/4 to 1/2 cup of wood ash per tomato plant, but more research should be done.

Each report includes a recommendation for adding lime (to raise the pH a little), nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. They are all close enough that we can probably apply them across all the beds. A general application of wood ash would raise the pH and potassium, so should be good for all the beds except where the potatoes are going. If we are concerned about the high magnesium, we could apply only non-dolomitic limestone and elemental potassium (potash) instead of wood ash. Without testing every bed and knowing the exact preference of each crop planted in it each year, it’s impossible to fine tune the soil improvement.

The seed catalogs are arriving!

Our annual seed selection meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 3 from 10am to noon. The meeting will be held virtually. Please contact us to get info to join the meeting.

Everyone interested in the crops and varieties we will grow at Robbins Farm Garden this season is welcome. Prospective new members of the garden group are also encouraged to attend and join in the discussion. This is the start of our great expectations for the upcoming gardening season!

See the red yarn on this okra? It tells us that this pod will be allowed to mature so we can use the seeds next season. (Attention Gardeners – if you see red yarn, don’t pick it!) We are attempting to save seeds whenever we can. In short, if a desirable vegetable produces seeds, is not a hybrid variety, and there are no other varieties it can cross with, then it’s a candidate for seed saving. We save seeds for many crops, including arugula, fava and lima beans, cilantro, ground cherries, malabar spinach, okra, sesame, some tomatoes and some flowers. For more information about saving seeds, visit the Seed Savers Exchange.

In a previous post from 2019, I measured the flow rate of our hose and nozzle and related it to the watering needs of the garden, as a guideline for watering. The guideline is based on a reasonable estimate of the need for water of most mature crop plants, which is about 1 inch per week. Since that post, we’ve changed both hoses and garden bed size, so this is an update. This is of course only a guideline, and watering requirements obviously need to take in account the weather and the particular needs of different crops.

Our main garden beds are nominally 4 x 23 feet, or 92 square feet. 1 inch of rain on that surface would be about 7.7 cubic feet which is about 57 gallons.

I measured the flow rate of the two hoses by timing how long it takes to fill a 4 gallon bucket. The hose and watering wand connected directly to the hydrant took about 50 seconds to fill the bucket, or about 4.8 gallons per minute. So to get 1 inch of water on the whole bed takes almost 12 minutes. The hose and wand on the other end of the garden took about 110 seconds, or about 2.2 gallons/minute, so 1 inch on the whole bed would take about 26 minutes.

Splitting those times into 7 days, that would be about just under 2 minutes or 4 minutes on each bed per day to get 1 inch of water per week, if there’s no rain.

The photo above is our kale bed on May 24, stocked with well-established seedlings started indoors in early April. The photo below is from May 25 last year. I don’t think we will go back to seeding kale in the soil. With our springtime weather, the results are far too unpredictable.

We’re in the second week of harvesting salad veg at the garden: lettuce, spinach, arugula and radishes. There’s really nothing like growing your own salad. Pictured above are five of our six lettuce varieties. (Left to right are Little Gem, New Red Fire, Salad Bowl, Pirat, and Kagraner Sommer.) Yum.