Monday, June 17, 2024

Monday Thoughts: “As a writer, I find gardens essential to the creative process; as a physician, I take my patients to gardens whenever possible." ~ Oliver Sacks


“As a writer, I find gardens essential to the creative process; as a physician, I take my patients to gardens whenever possible." ~ Oliver Sacks

Quote Source: Jan Johnsen's Gardentopia substack newsletter
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Saturday, June 15, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 199: Garden Extremes

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Jessica Damiano, the Associated Press' gardening columnist, about gardening extremes. The plant profile is on Angelonia and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events and this week's garden tasks in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on Thelonious Monk from Christy Page of Green Prints.

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 108: Frugal Gardening Tips

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/06/gardendc-podcast-episode-108-frugal.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 195: Reduce Your Lawn

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/05/gardendc-podcast-episode-195-reduce.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 173: Native Plant Fallacies

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/11/gardendc-podcast-episode-173-native.html

This episode is archived at: 

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Garden-Extremes-e2ktf4p

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/support.

SHOW NOTES: 1:00 Welcome back Jessica Damiano, Associated Press gardening columnist 2:50 Defining garden extremes and getting Jessica’s opinion on lawns 5:16 Benefits of a turf grass lawn: “It’s not inherently evil” 7:26 Jessica’s message for extreme lawn obsessives: “Relax” 8:52 Is the No Mow May movement the right choice in the Mid-Atlantic? 12:10 Leave the Leaves campaign and repurposing the leaves for mulch 14:06 Which leaves are harmful to use as mulch? 16:00 All organic vs. chemical users: Where does Jessica fall on the spectrum? 18:15 Late-blight on Tomatoes, the importance of spotting it and how to prevent the spread 20:00 How to effectively kill one problem plant while keeping the others alive 21:48 Social Media gardeners and perfectionism: not everything needs to be perfect! 24:30 Jessica’s thoughts on Native-only gardens 27:00 Kathy wants to end the stigma against non-native plants and why people should reserve their judgment 28:47 Elitism in the gardening community and why it deters new gardeners 32:30 Problems with gardens based around one plant like tropical theme gardens 33:50 Jessica explains why one plant gardens will hurt pollinators 35:40 Kathy shares a story about someone local who grows palm trees 37:15 Jessica shares stories of zone-busting gardens 38:45 The bonsai method: a hobby that’s taking over younger generations 41:12 Jessica’s reaction to garden snobbery and gardening with annuals 44:00 What to do in between seasons with your plants – some can be saved and reused 46:42 Subscribe to Jessica’s newsletter: The Weekly Dirt https://jessicadamiano.substack.com/ and contact her at jessicadamiano.com 47:35 Jessica’s final thoughts on Gardening Extremes 48:03 Plant Profile: Angelonia 50:02 What’s new in the garden this week? Annual flower cutting and fertilizing tips, growing lilies and dahlias 50:44 Upcoming events in the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia area – Garlic Fest at the Tacoma Park Farmers Market on Sunday, July 14th, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Lotus and Water Lily Festival July 19-21, and Tomato Fest at Silver Spring Farmers Market on Saturday, August 17th 52:00 Check out Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz for low-maintenance alternatives for lawns on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 54:30 Christy Page from GreenPrints on Thelonious Monk in the Culinary Adventures on Angela’s Porch, an article by Don Nicholas.

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!

Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Interview Edit and Show Notes: Josh Panepento

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

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Friday, June 14, 2024

Fenton Friday: Cilantro Turns Into Coriander

The Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant we planted last week are settling in and starting to put on some growth.

I continued to harvest a small bucket full of Blackberries every other day and made a cobbler, a crisp, and sauce with them all -- plus gave a few quarts away to family and friends. In my haste to beat the birds and other berry-loving critters, I realized I am picking them a few days early as they are fully black and shiny, but slightly tart still. They need to mellow to deep black and a matte/dull finish to be really sweet and almost over-ripe. The tart ones are still great for these recipes - though not the best for snacking on out of hand. 

The pollinator/herb garden area is recovering remarkably from the bus crash a few weeks ago. I'm really surprised that the Calendula is blooming so well in this heat and I see several Borage seedlings popping up in the spot where the mother plants had been run over. 

I cut some Dahlia flowers and watered the Zinnia seedlings. I still need to plant several cutting-garden seed packs I have, but might wait out the current heat wave.

The pot of Cilantro had bolted and the seeds are nearly dry on their stems (see pic above), so I cut those off to collect for Coriander use in the kitchen and to plant a few this fall.

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).

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Monday, June 10, 2024

Monday Thoughts: "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." - Robert Blake

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." - Robert Blake

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Saturday, June 08, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 198: Rats and Other Destructive Critters

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Josh Singer, DC Parks and Recreation Community Garden Specialist, about dealing with rats and other destructive garden critters. The plant profile is on Love-in-a-Mist and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events and this week's garden tasks in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on Why June is the Perfect Month from Christy Page of Green Prints.

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 50: Deer-Resistant Native Plants

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-50-deer.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 174: Wildscaping

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/11/gardendc-podcast-episode-174-wildscaping.html

This episode is archived at: 

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Rats-and-Other-Destructive-Critters-e2kg0mc

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/support.

SHOW NOTES: 1:05 Welcome Josh Singer, DC Parks and Recreation Community Garden Specialist 1:29 Josh’s gardening background and how he ended up at DC Parks and Recreation 4:05 Josh’s history of being a self-taught gardener 5:25 What does Josh do at DC Parks and Rec? 6:02 The Communal Farm Program: teaching people how to grow and fighting food insecurity 7:45 “Last year we grew and gave away over 13,000 lbs of produce to hundreds of mostly food insecure seniors.” 8:10 Josh’s online urban agriculture course: http://dugnetwork.org/online-learning/ 9:50 Josh’s partner, Anna Mische John, is the horticulture director at Takoma Park 10:30 What Josh is growing in his family’s home garden 11:03 How Josh dealt with rats in Powell Community Farm in DC (using dry ice!) 15:21 Growing crops that rats won’t eat 17:05 Utilizing trellis 18:24 How to build wire cages to keep rats out 22:30 Scare tactics and sprays for plants 24:07 Fake snakes and other fake animals 25:13 Hanging shiny objects can deter birds 25:51 Organic sprays that Josh finds effective 28:08 Squirrels and chipmunks are looking for a moisture source 29:22 Garden theft by other people and ways to prevent it 32:47 How to properly relocate raccoons and groundhogs 36:40 Josh’s final thoughts on dealing with urban wildlife 38:05 To learn more check out dugnetwork.org or reach out to Josh: joshua.singer@dc.gov 40:55 Plant Profile: Love-in-a-mist (Nigella species) 42:35 What’s new in the garden this week? Container Gardening Tips, Plant Tomatoes, and Enjoying Butterfly Weed Blooms 43:47 Upcoming events in the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia area – Garden Conservancy Open Days program. Learn more at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/ 44:44 Check out Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz for low-maintenance alternatives for lawns on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 47:05 Is June the “perfect month”? Christy Page from GreenPrints thinks so!

Please vote for GardenDC in the first-ever GardenComm’s People’s Choice Horti Awards.
Voting happens now through 6/15. Go HERE: 

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!

Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Interview Edit and Show Notes: Josh Panepento

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

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