
This week we rebooted the pollinator garden strip on the exposed corner of our community garden. Some of you may recall the school bus incident last May that demolished it, but it bounced back just fine (after I spent hours replanting it and pulling out pieces of embedded metal, rocks, and other debris.) After our hard winter, I thought few things would come back, but when we cleared out the dead material and weeded it yesterday, I was happy to say many plants returning. Those included Swamp Milkwood, self-sown Calendula and Borage, Mountain Mint, and a miniature Thyme. To those, we added Jerusalem Artichoke (Don't worry, the pollinator strip is hemmed in by concrete on all sides!) and started seeds of: Zinnia 'Andew Jewel, Zinnia 'Purity', Zinnia 'Forecast Mixed Colors', a dwarf yellow Tithonia, and Celosia 'Flamma Orange'. To that, I hope to add some unique Marigold varieties next week. As you can see from this listing, it is mainly going to be flowers in hot colors and that corner is practically going to GLOW. I hope that keeps any further incoursions by errant vehicles away!

I also bought a fancy metal sign for it that says: "Pollinator-friendly Garden." My aim is that the sign discourages plant and flower thefts. We also made little plant labels for everything, so that I hope folks take pictures and can see this is being cared for/deliberately planted.
This week also marked the end of the rabbit-proof box from our plot. It had done a great service in protecting our vulnerable veggies over the last few years, but the wood was starting to rot and fall apart. I salvaged one end of the box and made a little fence at the top of our plot. I also took off all the hardware cloth and formed those pieces into loose wire cages around the lettuces and other greens that I thought bunnies might be most interested in.
Everything else in our plot is humming along. We should be able to harvest the Arugula and Lettuce soon. I see heads forming on our Broccoli plants, some Potatoes are making a come back (We were SO SURE we dug all of them up last fall!), and the Dahlias left in the ground iver-winter are sending foliage up too.
What are you growing in your edible garden this week?
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 13th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).