Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

2021 online Seed Selection Meeting – January 23

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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!

2020 Notes to the Future (end of season notes)

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2020 was the season COVID-19 hit. Our early seedling work – and the work at the garden – was conducted with several precautions in response to the pandemic.
The season began with temperature extremes in the spring, followed by a hot summer and drought until quite late in the season. As a result, there was less mildew damage, the heat-loving nightshades and squashes did really well, and the tender greens suffered.
We also saw quite a bit of bunny blight, despite fencing around the beds. Thankfully, the new fence was completed at the end of the season – ahead of schedule – and not a moment too soon!

2020 Alliums (end of season notes)

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Garlic: very good, do again
Leeks: overall good, but not as stocky as previous years
Onions: Sets not great, on the small side; seeded varieties did well, but smaller than usual (temperature stress?)
Scallions: the best ever; planted in 4” rows; lasted all season!
Shallots: did well, but smaller than usual (like the onions)
Walking Onions: good scallions in spring; productive year; replanting went well

2020 Brassicas (end of season notes)

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Broccoli: first crop badly discolored again (heat stress?) and heads smaller than usual, with some early aphid damage; second crop was mostly eaten by bunnies as young seedlings (even after a second seeding), those plants that survived didn’t mature
Brussels sprouts: grew well, but had tons of aphids at end of season (like almost everything this year) not contained to the leaves, so poor crop of sprouts. Sprouts were small and also had some sort of rot: research and look for resistant variety?
Cabbages: first crop: smaller than usual (temperature stress?), with lots of cabbage worms; second crop green variety was okay, but Jersey variety completely eaten by bunnies after transplanting and savoy didn’t fully mature by end of season
Cauliflower: first crop behaved strangely (temperature stress?): a few heads matured when expected, but the rest took the entire season! Also had some aphid and (striped) cabbage worm damage. Second crop was awesome!
Kohlrabi: very good, do again: planted all seedlings (more than appeared on plan)