A Cooperative Learning Project
July 26, 2015
July 23, 2016
July 22, 2017
July 21, 2018
What’s different in 2018?
Eggplants: plants not robust, wormy fruit, poor yield – too much water? soil too cool?
Peppers: similar problems as eggplant, but not as bad, try growing a few in pots?
Potatoes: very good, do again
Tomatillos: did very well, some potato beetle damage, harvest later than usual
Tomatoes: not a great year, Green Zebra, Garden Treasure & Rutgers died early, Juliet & Sun Gold did well, leave more of the suckers? Try some plants in pots? Fertilize more?
Braving the cold and watching the approaching Nor'Easter, we found what appears to be a perfect tomato at Market Basket, New England grown, labeled "Backyard Farms". Looking that up, we found a 42-acre hydroponic greenhouse in Maine. This is how you feed locavores in the Northeast winters.
Our seventh year of gardening year began with the January seed meeting, followed by some excellent research for new varieties in February. March saw the first seedlings started indoors and opening day at the garden. In April, the final 2 (of 12) main garden beds were double-dug, and our first seeds (and seedlings) went into the garden.
In May, we discovered a rabbit's nest in some knee-high winter rye, causing a delay in planting our bush beans. (All bunnies successfully fledged and eventually graduated out of the garden.) For the first time, we started sweet potato slips from our previous-year's tubers and experimented with row cover on the Swiss chard.
Drought was significant for most of the season. Watering seemed relentless, especially in early summer when many young seedlings were getting established. Our carrots suffered, tomatoes were once again a target for thirsty wildlife and (for the first time) our eggplants were targeted.
June saw a bountiful crop of peas, our earliest cherry tomatoes ever, and the best-looking spring broccoli and bok choi to date. Sadly, our okra seedlings struggled… and the seedlings purchased to replace them didn't fare much better. In July, we harvested our best-ever garlic, along with our earliest summer squash and full-sized tomatoes.
August was abundant, and graced us with another beautiful crop of bok choi. Yet, we suffered disappointment when our onions died off before reaching full size. September (always our most productive month) saw the additional payoff of our pelleted seed experiment, with our best crop of parsnips to date.
October saw our last harvests of tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, and our first harvests of cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Garlic (reserved from our June harvest) was replanted in November, which also saw the last harvest for most crops. We enjoyed lettuce and arugula (under plastic) through mid-December and hardy collards and kale through the end of the year.
Basil: another strong year, but with some leaf predation
Cilantro: not a good year – try a better planting schedule, more robust variety? rotate into a main bed (with arugula)?
Nasturtiums: nearly wiped out by aphids, some recovered later
Okra: seedling problems (due to transplanting and/or watering?), bought seedlings didn’t thrive either
Rhubarb: did well, except for leaf damage (by beetles?)
Sunflowers: healthier plants, less mildew, but not enough – try in new or additional location (Philosopher’s Stone)?
Sweet Clover: transplant into tomato beds worked well, collected seed planted in fall (more for spring)
Three Sisters plot: did well, pretty good balance, very good corn, good beans, squash small and leggy – try larger squash variety w/bushier habit & borer-resistant?
Eggplants: early critter predation (due to drought), staking important, Italian variety excellent, Orient Express quicker to harvest and larger plants, but less cold hardy than Ping Tung Long
Peppers: too many hot types (more sweet types, lose Anaheim & Jalapeno?, try Padron?, bigger Thai variety?)
Tomatillos: not as productive as usual, possibly due to following (alleopathic) Jerusalem artichokes, no beetle damage
Tomatoes: seedlings planted too far from stakes (try 4-5”), Garden Gem did poorly, Juliette did very well, Green Giant was strange
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