Fenton Friday: Almost Planted

We ALMOST got the tomato plants in this week. Sasha, the new summer intern*, and I had just selected the plants we wanted to trial, cleared the area of weeds, and collected the support stakes for them, when another big storm rolled in and we made it inside before getting soaked.

We will go back and actually plant them early next week. I also have several herbs to put in the ground, along with some peppers and squash seedlings--then a few things I want to start from seed (okra, cotton, zinnias).

It is a late start this year for the summer growing season because of the rainstorms. I love the rain! However, these recent storms are gully-washers and we are getting them pretty much every other day. The ground is soaking and it is really not good to be digging and working in it, though I think we'll go ahead and take our chances and work in the wet soils as we really don't have much time left. Seasons like these are what make me really feel for professional farmers and plant nurseries.

*She will introduce herself in a few days on this blog.

What is 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 FentonStreet 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 7th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Fenton Friday: Strawberry Season

The strawberry season has arrived. I have far fewer plants than in previous years, so my harvest is vastly smaller, but still those berries eaten right in the garden plot are a billion times more flavorful than any others I've had.

Also in the plot, the hardneck garlic has formed scapes and I am cutting them now to send energy to form a bigger bulb, rather than flowering and setting seed. I will share the scapes with others and use them in a green garlic pesto.

Elsewhere in the plot the peas and lettuce are still going. The summer-like weather has come in though, so I think this week or next will be the last of them.

Next week I am aiming to get all my summer edibles in - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra, etc, It will be a busy week in the garden plot!

What is 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 FentonStreet 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 7th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Win a New Abelia from the Gardener’s Confidence® Collection in our May 2019 Washington Gardener Reader Contest

For our May 2019 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away two new abelias coming out this year—'Vintage Charm™' and 'Rosy Charm™' from the Gardener’s Confidence® Collection.
   Abelia x ‘Cloud 99-6-7,’ PPAF Rosy Charm isn’t bashful when it comes to blooming—this abelia is covered in red-purple blooms starting in May and lasting until frost. With all the reliable performance qualities that make abelias a popular landscape plant—drought-tolerance, deer-resistance, and the ability to handle heat (plus, one of the more cold-tolerant abelias on the market)—you’ll soon succumb to this one’s charms as well!
   Fill the summer garden with clouds of highly scented white flowers. 'Vintage Charm™' Abelia x ‘Cloud 99’ PPAF reinvents a classic favorite into a more compact form with an unbelievable flowering display. With more flowers clusters per branch, this fragrant abelia turns into a billowing mass of white blooms in early summer. They last and last, aging to pink, and finally a light parchment-tan. This plant holds its leaves well in late summer heat, is mostly deciduous in winter and has all the hardiness and low-maintenance qualities you’d expect from abelia. Its medium-sized growth habit, approximately 4 ft tall by 6 ft wide, eliminates pruning chores, too.
    To enter to win one of the two abelias, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on May 31 with “New Abelias” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in the May 2019 issue and why. Include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced by June 1.

UPDATE:

Congratulations to our two contest winners - John Rebstock of Cheverly, MD and Madeline Caliendo of Washington, DC!

Mixed-Border Designs, Zinnias, Native Plant Containers, and more in the May 2019 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine

The May 2019 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is now out.

Inside this issue:

• Practical Tips for Mixed-Border Design with English Roses
• Zinnia-Growing Secrets
• Insects that Suck! Japanese Maple Scale
• Pointers for Potting Up Pretty Native Plant Containers
• Renovating a Monastery Greenhouse
• Minimizing Soil Contaminants
• DC-MD-VA Gardening Events Calendar

and much more…

Note that any submissions, event listings, and advertisements for the June 2019 issue are due by June 5.

PS  Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly publication sent to your inbox as a PDF several days before it is available online. You can use the PayPal (credit card) online order form here: http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/subscribe.htm

Fenton Friday: Peas Lessons Learned

by Johnny Moseman

During my time as an intern at Washington Gardener Magazine this spring, one of the things I was tasked with was growing various types of peas to compare how they would grow. After planting the peas in the third week of March, we would check on the progress of my peas each week to see how they were doing.

The three types of peas I chose to plant were ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’, ‘Little Marvel’, and ‘Progress #9’ peas. Coming into my semester at Washington Gardener, I had no gardening experience or any experience growing crops, so this was a first for me. With the guidance of our editor, Kathy Jentz, we planted the seeds about an inch deep and three inches apart from each other. Before planting the seeds in the ground I soaked all of them for about 24 hours before to let them germinate a bit so they would be a little ahead of schedule when we actually planted them. We also put wiring around the plots where the peas were to prevent animals from getting in and eating the plant while the peas were growing.

It took a little more than two weeks for us to finally see something sprout, but once we did, the emergence was quick and the first shoots were visible above the soil and straw we put on top to control weed growth.

Since it did not start to get warm up until the end of April, it took until then for me to see actual growth of the vines when they started to go vertical and starting growing up the supports I put them in front of. My first peas did not start to flower until the second week of May and soon after that the first edible pea pods formed by May 16.

The ‘Progress #9’ and ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’ were the peas that grew the larger vines, while the ‘Little Marvel’ barely grew above ground and it was definitely noticeable that this type of pea did not grow huge vines like the other two. ‘Progress #9’ was the first vine to flower in early May while ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’ was looking like it would flower any day after that.

About the author:

Johnny Moseman is a senior multi-platform journalism major at the University of Maryland from Columbia, MD. He is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener this spring.

Bloom Day Fleur de Lys

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. 

Here in the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we had a soggy and cool spring, so my garden is happy--though I've had little chance to get out there and maintain or enjoy it!

In my garden, I have a multitude of blooms, but I thought I'd focus on just the Irises this time. Most are bearded types. None have names as they were all pass-along plants that I got from other gardeners -- either at plant swaps or in direct trades. Likewise, the one patch of Siberian Iris I have is from a garden club friend.

One Iris that I forgot to take a photo of was the Yellow Flag Iris in my pond, also a pass-along plant. It is considered invasive, but on my urban corner location it isn't going anywhere (plus I snip the seedheads off before they can ripen).

So what is blooming today in YOUR garden?

Fenton Friday: Girl Scouts Visit

This week a local Girl Scout troop came to visit our community garden. I took them around to all the highlights: the wood chip pile, the shared tool bin, the compost pile, and the cistern. They had a great time filling up watering cans and were very knowledgeable already about how composting works.

We visited various plots and interviewed the gardeners who were present about what they like to grow. We then sampled some stuff from my plot including asparagus and lettuce, both of which were eaten quickly with requests for seconds and thirds. We smelled and examined herbs, of which chamomile was a particular favorite. Several went home with stems to dry and make their own herbal teas.

Finally, we potted up seeds for pollinator-friendly plants like Zinnias and Dill. All-in-all, it was a very productive hour with a great group of intelligent scouts.

After they left, I planted my new strawberry plants and the cauliflower and broccoli seedlings.

What is 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 FentonStreet 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 7th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Discuss "Onward and Upward in the Garden" with the Washington Gardener Magazine Garden Book Club

For our next Garden Book Club selection, we will be reading: Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine S. White.

Our Summer 2019 club meeting will be on Wednesday, July 24 from 6:30-8pm at Soupergirl, located right next to the Takoma metro stop. Soupergirl offers soups for sale that are incredibly healthy. They are 100% plant-based, low salt, low fat, and most importantly, absolutely delicious, so plan to come a bit early to purchase and eat your dinner with the garden book club.

You can order it at https://amzn.to/2Wr7D4x and we earn a few pennies if you do so via that link. The book is described as a "sharp-eyed appreciation of the green world of growing things, of the aesthetic pleasures of gardens and garden writing, and of the dreams that gardens inspire."

Please RSVP to washingtongardener@rcn.com or on the Facebook event page, so we know how many chairs to reserve for our group.

The Washington Gardener Magazine's Garden Book Club is free and open to all. We meet quarterly on a weekday evening near a metro-accessible location in the DC-area. We will announce the details of each upcoming meeting about two months in advance. Please check back on this blog for schedule updates and announcements.

Want to read ahead? The next book club selections are:

Fall 2019 - The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food by Janisse Ray

PIN THIS FOR LATER:

Fenton Friday: Early Bolting

We had severe thunderstorms pass through the region with high winds this week -- and more predicted for the weekend. The cover cloth we placed over the peas and lettuces stayed in place -- except for the one corner that I didn't pin down. Due to the early high temps this week accompanying those storms, the lettuce mix in the corner has already started to bolt (put up a flower and set seed). It's still edible, but not as delicious.

I have some Girl Scouts visiting the plot on Monday, so I want everything to look decent. I weeded out the whole plot. Without a billowy skirt of chickweed, the garlic plant from last fall is looking very good. The peas still have not flowered yet. I harvested another handful of asparagus stalks. Next, I have a few more strawberry starts to plant to revive that bed a bit. 

I will also put in some cauliflower and broccoli seedlings today. It is late in the season for them, but I might as well put them in the ground. I had dragged them on public transit to a few talks I gave on vegetable gardening and they got banged up, so they deserve to retire and rest for a while.

By the way, I am hosting an educational booth on Gardening for Pollinators at the Takoma Park Farmers Market this Sunday, May 5 from 10am-12noon. Look for the Washington Gardener Magazine banner and the butterflies. We'll be potting up annual flower seeds for folks to take home and plant in their own garden.

What is 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 FentonStreet 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 7th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Community Gardens of the DMV: The Garden at UMBC

By Johnny Moseman

Sitting within the University of Maryland's Baltimore County campus, right next to the police station, is the school’s very own community garden. Started in 2014 by some faculty and students at the university, The garden gives students, or anyone who wishes to grow their own plants, access to raised beds with fertile soil to grow in.

The garden was sparked by students who saw the land on campus and thought they could use the space to make a difference and grow some food.

They started creating "The Garden" over a two year period by developing a proposal and gaining the approval and support needed. In Spring of 2014, the student body voted on the SGA Prove-It grant funding for a campus improvement project -- 70 percent voted for a community garden on campus. The raised beds were then built by student volunteers, along with a broad network of staff, faculty advisers, and mentors.

“The Garden is a social action and service organization dedicated to helping reimagine the role of higher education in addressing problems of the world through the creation and engagement of our food garden that enables creativity in research, applied learning, campus-community partnerships, social equity, diversity, and food sovereignty,” according to their Facebook page.

Along with raised beds on the site, there is a shed with basic tools for use by anyone within the garden.

The garden is run by a student group, Sustainability Matters, and has support and oversight from a bunch of different organizations on campus from Facilities Management to Student Life.

This community garden is managed and plots are allocated by this student group to other campus groups. The garden also provides an orientation for these groups to learn how to grow in their section of the raised beds.

The groups can then choose what to grow and do with the food they grow in their plot. The garden also provides a shared compost pile, fun events, and regular community work days.

Photos courtesy of the garden’s Instagram account: @umbc_thegarden.

About the Author: Johnny Moseman is a senior multi-platform journalism major at the University of Maryland from Columbia, MD. He is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener this spring semester.

The Community Gardens of the DMV blog series is profiling community gardens across the DC-MD-VA region. If you have a community garden you would like profiled, please leave a comment below and let us know how to reach you.

DIY: Rabbit-proof Cage

By Alexa Silverberg

Bunnies seem to come from everywhere to eat those delicious berries and greens you’ve been growing. See below for easy how-to steps to create a bunny-free zone in your garden.

Materials:

• Drill
• Screws
• Wood*
• Staple gun with heavy-duty staples
• Gloves
• Hardware cloth
• Wire cutters
• A helper
• Safety glasses
• Measuring tape

*we used boards taken off a few old pallets

Steps:

1. Measure your growing bed for how wide and long you need the box to be. Create a bottomless box with sides about 2-3 feet high. You can adapt a raised bed frame.

2.  Have a friend help hold the wood steady while you screw the wood corners and braces securely together with the drill. Repeat this until you have all 4 sides of the box finished.
3.  Put on gloves and safety glasses, they will protect your hands while you drill and while you are handling the wire hardware cloth.

4.  Start wrapping the hardware cloth around one side of the box.

5.  Have a friend securely press the hardware cloth flat onto the wood, while you begin stapling the wire down with a staple gun. In order to get the staples to stay, the hardware cloth must be as flat and taut as possible on the wood.

6. Staple the edges first to make sure they are secure before stapling the side. Repeat until all 4 sides of the wood box are wrapped in hardware cloth.

7.  Cut any excess of the hardware cloth with wire cutters and crimp/roll the cut edges over, to ensure you can easily reach over the box without catching your clothing and cutting yourself.

8. Place it around the plants you want to protect. There you have it -- a bunny-free box, perfect for protecting all of your favorite crops!

About the Author: Alexa Silverberg is a senior broadcast journalism major at the University of Maryland and is from Short Hills, NJ. She is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener Magazine this spring semester.