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One of the goals of the garden is to move toward self-sufficiency. We’ve learned to keep over our garlic and sweet potatoes, and are taking steps toward seed saving. Yet, a significant hurdle has been our standard potatoes. Because we only grow a spring crop and don’t have the luxury of giving them time to fully mature in the soil, keeping our own potatoes over isn’t an option. However, there may be a work around.

We are fortunate to have some great organic farms nearby, LexFarm in Lexington and Hutchins Farm in Concord. Last October, we purchased a 50-pound bag of Peter Wilcox potatoes for $50 from Hutchins to divide amongst the gardeners. As an experiment, we set aside 4 of them in our refrigerator. They started out in simply a brown paper bag, but when they began drying out, we added a plastic bag inside.

When our seed potatoes arrived from our usual Fedco order in mid-April, I was surprised to find that our refrigerated potatoes looked better. And the Fedco potatoes arrived just the day before we needed to plant, giving us no chance to green sprout them beforehand.

We planted the Fedco potatoes in the garden as usual; the Hutchins potatoes went in a Rubbermaid tub beside our driveway. (So not exactly an equal situation.) Nevertheless, the yield ratio (harvested/planted) was a respectable 4.5 for the kept over Peter Wilcox potatoes from Hutchins. The Fedco varieties yielded 6.8 for Adirondack Blue, 3.8 for Yukon Gem, and 3.4 for Purple Viking.

Then there’s the cost comparison. For the 50-pound bag from Hutchins, the cost would have been $2 for the 2lb we need for each variety. (Their farm stand price was $3/lb or $6 for the 2lb needed.) The organic varieties from Fedco were $11.50 plus 1/3 of the $23 shipping charge or $19 for the 2lb needed for each variety.

The only potentially-irreplaceable potato variety we grow is Adirondak Blue. (They’re a real favorite of the group, and highly productive.) If we’re able to source them locally, we should be able to substitute for the other two varieties we grow now. Then we can untether from ordering seed potatoes online.

Our fava beans flirted with fantastic this year. Simply put, they were our best ever.

It’s been a real struggle to grow good favas (or broad beans) in our climate. They prefer life in the UK, free from the dizzying temperature swings of our relatively short New England springs. Yet this year, we definitely got lucky with the weather. There were no late frosts or super early heat waves, though we did have our first of those last week.

We started the fava beans indoors again, but 2 weeks earlier than our initial experiment doing that last year. They were seeded with our alliums and spring brassicas on March 2, which was our first week of seedling work. And they came to harvest on June 22, a full 3 weeks earlier than last year. (Coincidentally, they closely tracked the spring broccoli and cauliflower on days to harvest.)

We seeded in standard 6-packs, transplanted into 3-4” pots at 2 weeks, hardened off at 3 weeks, and planted on March 30 (Opening Day at the garden), 4 weeks after seeding. We also protected the seedlings with a cloche for their first week in the garden. Unfortunately, 2 of the 18 seedlings mysteriously disappeared, leaving us only 16 plants to grow to maturity. (The empty spaces were filled with clusters of leftover onion sets on May 4, which we’re harvesting now as green onions.)

By mid-May, the bean plants were a foot tall and positively packed with flowers. Many plants also produced a second stem. The bean pods became apparent in early June. Despite dozens of flowers, each plant averaged 5 bean pods. Yet no apologizing was necessary! The plants grew large (some measure 32”) and healthy by harvest time. And for some unknown reason, there were no aphids this spring. Our biggest worry has been figuring out the best time to harvest.

The other thing to note is the variety. Encouraged by our relative success with Ianto’s from Baker Creek last year, we planned to get more seed. Unfortunately, it was unavailable, necessitating a return to Vroma from Johnny’s. We’ve grown Vroma – with lackluster results – for many years. (Hence, the switch to Ianto’s.)

So, it would appear that our indoor seeding, earlier schedule, and good luck with weather and aphids was this year’s recipe for success. The final count was 79 pods from 16 plants, with the pods producing an average of 4 beans. And we’re hoping to save seed for next year, so stay tuned.

Seed Saving Addendum

We left enough seed pods on the plants after harvesting for planting next year. The pods were allowed to turn black and become brittle on the plants, then we let them dry indoors in the pods for another week before removing them.

The seed looked good and was put away for planting next spring. Wish us luck!

Watching the seasonal BBC program Gardeners’ World on YouTube each week has some of us sorely disappointed with our fava beans. Gardeners in the UK grow fava (or broad) bean plants that reach 5-6’ and produce 10-12” pods full of big plump beans. The fava beans we’ve grown are less impressive (I’m embarrassed to share how much less). So we’ve decided to try doing things a bit differently this year.

We’re trying a new variety called Ianto’s from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This variety is advertised as having “massive beans borne on impressive 6-foot-tall plants.”

We’re also seeding our fava beans indoors. (We typically plant them in the soil the first Saturday in April.) The beans were planted in 6-packs and placed under lights on March 18. The germination was astonishingly good, and they emerged significantly faster than our outdoor sowings.

The seedlings were planted in the garden on April 8 (see photo above). Their first week inflicted the classic New England spring indignity of overnight lows of 30° and daytime highs of 90°… though they’re still standing tall. Watch this space!

In a reprise of last year, Opening Day 2023 ushered in the discovery of a very large rock in one of the garden beds. David is pictured above seated on the rock after removal, joined by Steven, Suzy, and Carol.

Very few of the garden beds have not been dug deeply. We only do this once, thereafter we simply fork the soil to loosen it. The perimeter beds at the back of the garden are the last to be dug. Our fingers are crossed for clear sailing from here.