Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

eggplant

Fall Crop Update

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The peak of the harvest is past, and yet we tried second plantings of some crops because we had the space, to see what would happen.  With about a month to go, here’s their progress.

Cabbage & Cauliflower:  large leaves, producing well, but no sign of heads yet.

Carrots:  leafy fronds are doing well; no sign of poking out of the ground.

Beets:  alive but struggling.

Spinach:  mostly eaten by Something.

Peas:  half-height, base leaves yellowing, no sign of peas.

Lettuce:  looking good!  Might harvest some next week.

Also, here’s an update on some first plantings:

Eggplant:  *continues* to produce, though more slowly.

Beans:  the bush beans produced another handful; the pole beans have disappointed.

Potatoes:  we pulled a single plant to obtain some potatoes for display at Town Day.  The number amidst the roots was extensive, and while mostly small-to-tiny, there was at least one big red one.  From just one plant!

Squash:  the tiny zucchini was accidently harvested; there’s still a medium yellow squash; and the pattipan has several small fruits (not to mention flowers) which it thinks it has time to make bigger — we’ll see.

The mildew is back to some extent on the squash, and worse, has jumped to the other side of the garden and covered the collard leaves.

The rest of the greens (kale, chard, arugula and other herbs) still doing well.

Veggies breaking out

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Eggplant and Cuke Breakout

 

Growth has exploded in some parts of the garden. Some veggies, including the eggplants and the cucumbers, have spilled over into adjacent paths and are now breaking out through open slots in the garden’s fence.

Plenty of visitors, including a hummingbird!

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OakesYesterday, I was at the garden from 4:30 until 6. An exuberant crowd of mothers and children looked at — and commented on — practically everything. Everyone likes the squash we have. They find the eggplants to be terrific, and so are the flowers, the greens, the beans, etc.

Another mother and child were serious; it was the first time they’d found the garden open.

After I’d put the cards and signage away, a mother with a soccer child was so enthusiastic that I gave her my card so she could be in touch with us.

I supplied two boys with water for their sand pails and to wash off, and another young man who came by tried to treat the faucet like a pump when I said he, too, could have some water. I showed him how it works.

Finally: Would you believe that while I stood by the gate, I got to see a (female) hummingbird come to taste a nasturtium blossom? She was there only for a brief moment in time!

I have to say that I feel a little guilty from all the praise people give the garden, and for the envy sometimes betrayed by visiting gardeners whose plots are not doing so well. I always say we have some terrific gardeners, not myself!

 

Veggie School meets again

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Altogether, close to 90 exuberant, inquisitive, and pretty well-behaved students attended one of three 25-minute classes this morning at the Veggie School in Robbins Farm Garden.

We talked about different veggies’ origins, the different parts the plant we eat with different vegetables, what kinds of bugs we like and don’t like and why, and what were our favorite and least favorite veggies.

Veggie Schhol set up

Tops in students’ favorites were tomatoes and carrots, with onions coming in third. Least liked in general were beets and eggplant, though most everyone agreed that the deep-purple eggplants were among the most beautiful vegetables in the garden.

The few students repeating from last week marveled at how some of the garden’s plants had grown, like the three squashes (pattipan, crookneck and zucchini), the cucumbers, and especially the sunflowers, reaching now to almost 9 feet tall.