Robbins Farm Garden

Arugula first plantings came up well and bolted (as usual) in the heat, July and August plantings (as usual) lasted through the end of the season.
Bok Choy spring seeding did okay before bolting, fall crop germination was just barely enough for bed and could have been more robust (make sure it gets enough nitrogen).
Lettuce was a mixed bag again, first planting was perfect, second planting indoors was a week too late and had terrible germination (soil not sterilized?), summer plantings were better than most years, nematodes appeared in soil in late summer throttling the roots, late Aug & early Sep plantings had poor germination and needed transplanting to produce small heads by Nov.
Malabar Spinach did well in raised beds on entry arbor; went all the way to the top!
Mustard both spring crops did well, fall crop of green did better than red, seedlings were transplanted to even up the bed and did well through the end of the season.
Perpetual Spinach needed some transplanting to fill in bare spots, was well thinned and productive, hit by small dark-rimmed holes in leaves in late summer, recovered for good harvests through end of season.
Spinach spring crop seeded indoors did better than outdoor seeding (plan to start enough indoors for the full bed next spring), insect cover – with a sticky trap inside – worked super well; fall crop was mostly eaten by critters and was planted at least a few weeks too late, but could definitely work .
Swiss Chard started strong, was well thinned, not covered for leaf miner, had a productive mid-season, hit by small dark-rimmed holes in leaves in late summer, didn’t fully recover.

Basil variety with disease resistances did great, lasted into November!
Chives: Chinese very weak this year. Common didn’t survive winter; new division from Lisa doing well. Garlic weak this year.
Cilantro had a good first crop; second crop bolted; third crop was beautiful (plant just a bit earlier?)
Fennel was in an off year; only young plants.
Lavender did fine.
Lemon Balm did well.
Lovage recovering from dividing and transplanting last year, but looking healthy.
Marjoram was overwintered indoors; did well.
Mints: Peppermint not robust, maybe give fresh soil next spring. Spearmint doing okay, could also benefit from fresh soil.
Oregano doing better in new location, though not robust.
Parsley (only grew flat-leaf, bought in a 4-pack) did great.
Rosemary didn’t flourish after wintering over; consider planting fresh seedling next year.
Sage was woody and cut back hard in spring; came back beautifully!
Savory (Winter) grew well; divide and prune heavily next spring.
Sorrel doing well, despite transplanting last year; divide next spring.
Tarragon doing well after being moved last year.
Thyme didn’t survive winter; new plant settling in nicely.

Don’t forget the inoculant next year!
Bush Beans had lackluster year (no inoculant) all had less than 2 months production; purple needed reseeding & produced the least, green produced most reliably, dragon’s tongue had best yield but hit with rust.
Fava Beans were disappointing again; consider starting indoors, research varieties , don’t spray for aphids.
Lima Beans (pole variety) grown in soil for first time this year, grew well and produced good beans, easy to pick.
Peas (spring planting) had incredible germination; shell type was very short but was productive and was easy to tell from other varieties, snap and snow types did great, seed packet sizing was very good – do again.
Peas (fall planting) used Sugar Snap seed, good germination under multi-layers of shade cloth, about 5’ tall, hit by mildew, okay harvest.
Pole Beans had good germination, struggled with new trellis (find a way to string down center, rather than the front), didn’t last as long as expected (@ 1 month); green and purple did great, Romano type disappointing compared to Garden of Eden. Sigh.
Soybeans had spotty germination (no inoculant), thinned/transplanted seedlings, overall harvest just okay.

Eggplants did great again after a slow start (maybe too much water from doubled soaker hose?); some flea beetle damage but marigolds seemed to help again with small insect holes in fruits, great yield again.
Ground Cherries – very good, do again.
Peppers had a reasonably good year, plants generally strong and productive, leaf chewing was treated successfully with Neem oil, larger sweet peppers still needed to be picked green to avoid rot from insect holes, marigolds didn’t work to keep them away.
Tomatillos were unusually floppy, characteristically late to produce and had lots of small fruit at first frost, but not hit by striped potato beetles this year!
Tomatoes grew well on support structure updated with more secure stakes holding the strings, mulching around base of plants with garlic mulch worked great, pruning to double leaders on 6 plants worked great, and the drought caused predation problems in peak season; Seiger got wilt and failed in July, Bodacious had some large fruit but plant stopped producing early, plants in raised beds (Jaune Flamme, Plum Perfect) may have suffered from a soil nutritional deficiency.

Beets were very good – do again with insect screen and thinning protocol.
Daikon did okay, but would have liked to be planted sooner and thinned more like turnips to reach full size.
Jerusalem Artichokes in same location for second year, strong plants with 2 sets of blooms again, but a disappointing harvest. Perhaps replant with fresh stock next spring in a different location.
Potatoes all did well, had to cut seed potatoes into many pieces, potato beetles not as bad this year, best yield from blue, then purple, gold came out a week earlier which worked out well for planting the cabbage seedlings.
Rutabagas very good, do again.
Salad Turnips – spring crop did great, with 3-weeks to second planting being perfect; fall crop did great but could have also been two plantings next year.
Sweet Potatoes were less vigorous than usual with fewer flowers but produced well, harvested early to avoid predation, seedlings not planted had critter damage before coming to the garden.

Cucumbers were an ongoing challenge, initial germination wasn’t great, plants hit by early wilt (even supposedly-resistant new pickling variety), restarted seed twice indoors, tried planting last seedings in other spots around garden where they avoided wilt, but were planted too late.
Pumpkins – plants were inconsistent, with some producing well and others not.
Watermelons were awesome, 6 beautiful plants produced 6 perfect melons! (Harvested and pulled plants early to access space beside raised bed.)
Winter Squashes had a spotty year, germination was weak (soil not sterilized well enough), needed to protect fruit from critters with mesh bags, Acorn type were hit super hard with squash vine borers in vines and fruit (only harvested 1), Delicata type only had 1 plant (not many seeds left) but did fine, Honeynut plants struggled but produced some good-size and some small fruit, Butternut type did well.
Yellow Summer Squash first planting was all we had this year, plants never thrived and died back early (planted on mounds in a drought year and some borer damage), only produced 6 fruits for the season.
Zucchini first planting never thrived and died back early (planted on mounds in a drought year and some vine borer damage), second planting (3 in a large saucer) did great and produced through late October.