Fenton Friday: A Bus Came Through

Fenton pollinator garden pre-bus crash. Photo by Cassie Peo.

Fenton pollinator garden post-bus crash and fence repairs.

I woke up Monday to the sound of sirens and the sight of a school bus lodged on the corner fence of the Fenton Street Community Garden like a beached whale. It was reported that no children were on board and that no one was hurt during this crash. However, three of our garden plots suffered damage and the heavy-duty deer fence itself was a tangled mess.

   You can see pics of the bus crash and the immediate aftermath here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7Mj-1gOcYe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

    

The pollinator garden we had planted on the outside corner of the fence took the brunt of the crash and suffered even more damage from the works putting in the temporary fence replacement along with the final repairs that took place yesterday. I went over this morning and saw that nothing was salvageable from the plantings -- those included the sunny and colorful Calendula you see at top in the "before" pic along with several Borage plants and a dozen or so Common Milkweeds plus many Marigold and Zinnia seedlings that were just emerging.

I hope to be over there in the next few days to clear the debris out -- a lot of sharp metal pieces and other junk are strewn about. Then, I have some herb seedlings left from the Silver Spring Garden Club's GardenMart sale that I can plant along with some packs of marigolds and zinnias.  I'll share an updated "after" shot next week.

In my own plot, the Radishes, Cilantro, and Spinach are already bolting - as is my Broccoli, which is under a covercloth! It hasn't been that hot out, but apparently, the plants think otherwise. 

I have a bit of weeding to do and the new interns start next week, so we'll plant the warm-season seedlings together then including tomatoes, peppers, and maybe an eggplant.

I also am behind on my cutting garden due to this bus crash and the fact that the row of purple Zinnias I planted two weeks ago was chewed on by, well, I'm not sure. Maybe rabbits. Could be slugs. I'll re-sow those seeds and out Sluggo pellets out and a covercloth over them this time.

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).