Fenton Friday: Winter Weeds Have Won

weed patch

 My first week "back" for the growing season at my community garden plot has been a disheartening one. I have never seen weeds taking over like they have this winter. Usually, my straw groundcover is enough to maintain order and I just have to pull out a few stray weeds around the edges.

Not so this year! Pictured at left is my plot of solid weeds - mostly awful Henbit and Chickweed - plants as large as a healthy shrub. I had cleared one patch a month ago on a warm day, can you tell where that was? Nope! Looks exactly like the rest of the plot and those of my neighbors as well.

I don't have the energy to face this mess this weekend in the bitter cold winds, so maybe will try and return to weed next week.

strawberries in flower

Meanwhile, my strawberry patch is doing fine - though it is flowering far too early. If they get zapped in this weekend's freezes, will I have any berries later on?

My asparagus is doing okay (see: http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2016/04/asparagus-you-can-grow-that.html) and the peas the interns planted on end of the plot are coming up fine. They also planted smalls of radishes, carrots, and greens. Of those, only the radishes are showing at this point. We'll give it another week and maybe plant more new salad greens, if the first set of seeds do not germinate by then.
 

pea seedlings

How is your edible garden growing 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. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)