Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

Completing the Gardening Season

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Our final gardening day of the season was last Saturday, November 18. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it did improve as the morning progressed. We had a presentable harvest (especially for mid-November) and were able to leave the garden in good shape for the winter.

Kale, garlic, and the smaller parsnips remain in the ground, along with the perennial herbs. The kale will continue to grow for another month or so, making it possible for gardeners to browse through the end of the year. The garlic was planted Nov 11 and covered in straw to set roots over the winter, and the smaller parsnips will continue to grow and be an incredibly sweet harvest come spring.

And after years of planning and months of construction, the garden’s new shed is in place. The shed was designed and constructed for the garden, and replaces the free-on-curb plastic storage bench that gallantly served us for more than ten years. It was a wonderful way to end the season!

Harvest – September 17, 2023

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For your pleasure, pictured above are: arugula, basil, beans (including the first of the Good Mother Stallard shell beans), bok choy, carrots, celery, collards, cucumbers, dill seed, eggplants, fennel seeds, ground cherries, kales, leeks, lemongrass, lettuce, Malabar spinach, mustard, nasturtium capers, okra, parsnip (the first of the season), peppers, radishes, rutabaga, scallions, tomatillos, tomatoes, turnip, and winter squashes (including the first Black Futsu). Click here for the whole set of photos.

Scarlet Runner beans – a Runaway Favorite

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At our seed selection meeting in January, Alan suggested growing runner beans on the garden’s entry arbor. Though we’ve grown many types of beans, runners were something new.

Alan chose an heirloom Scarlet Runner that he remembered seeing at Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden on the White House grounds in 2012. A section of that garden was dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, with plants grown from seed saved each year since Jefferson’s time at the Monticello gardens.

The seed was sown at the same time as our bush beans in mid-May. Germination was excellent, and by mid-June the plants were scrambling up the trellised sides of the arbor. Flowers and the first snap beans appeared by mid-July, and we had the first dried beans in late August.

The dried bean pods are a boring dead leaf brown, but the beans themselves are positively stunning. Over the course of the season, the vines have nearly covered the arbor, and the prolific flowers are pollinator magnets – including hummingbirds! We also discovered that the flowers have a yummy bean flavor.

It looks like we will be harvesting lots of these beauties before the season ends. And it’s fair to say that the Scarlet Runner beans have been a real highlight of this year’s garden. Well done Alan!

Appreciating the Peas

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Every year, we plant our peas on opening day at the garden (weather permitting, the first Saturday in April). So much happens at the garden between the time we plant the peas and their harvest. Yet, the pea harvest ushering in summer on the solstice always feels significant, a moment to stop and appreciate the abundance to come in the season. Peas absolutely deserve celebrating!

Hoping for fabulous Favas

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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!

Opening Day Rock Stars Reprise

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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.