Monday, July 29, 2024

Monday Thoughts: “Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...” ~ Susan Polis Schutz

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...”

 ~ Susan Polis Schutz

Saturday, July 27, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 203: Food Safety in the Garden

In this episode, we talk with horticulturist Carol Allen about food safety in the garden. The plant profile is on Acanthus 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 How Not to Kill Your Blueberries from Christy Page of Green Prints.

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.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 15: Orchids, Insects, and Hummingbirds

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/06/gardendc-podcast-episode-15-orchids.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 28: Preserving Your Harvest

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-28-preserving.html

This episode is archived at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Food-Safety-in-the-Garden-e2mdnc6

SHOW NOTES: 1:17 Welcome Carol Allen, Insect columnist for Washington Gardener Magazine and ISA-certified arborist 2:04 Carol talk about being an agent associate in food safety with the University of Maryland 4:00 Carol is growing azaleas, perennials, and more in her home garden 5:35 Kathy shares a tip on deterring groundhogs from your garden 8:04 How to properly wash your fruits and vegetables after harvesting 10:40 Carol explains post-consumer vegetative waste and why it is dangerous 12:05 Compost piles can get hot in the sun, so where should you put them? 13:34 What to look for when buying compost from the store 15:51 What does Carol recommend for cleaning tomatoes before dehydrating? 18:15 Carol breaks down how to safely use different water sources 23:29 Is it safe to drink out of your hose? 26:26 Carol explains how you can sanitize water 28:08 Should harvesting be the first or last thing you do when arriving at the garden? 29:58 How to properly sanitize crops before eating them. It depends on what you harvest! 33:48 When you carve something like a watermelon, are you pushing bacteria inside? 35:23 What cleaning tools should you use to harvest fruits and vegetables 37:35 Do not breathe on apples before eating them – it makes them shiny, not clean 38:16 What other animals can bring diseases into your garden? 40:41 Carol says fish fertilizer is safe to use in the garden 44:20 Carol’s advice for people who believe human manure is good to use 46:18 You can contact Carol at callen12@umd.edu, visit https://psla.umd.edu/extension/produc..., or sign up for her newsletter at https://umd.us19.list-manage.com/subs... 47:49 Plant Profile: Acanthus 49:24 What’s new in the garden this week? The heat wave is finally over, Black-Eyed Susan, and Sun Gold tomatoes 49:50 This week’s garden tip on growing tomatoes 50:15 Support the podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh... and email Kathy at kathyjentz@gmail.com to earn a GardenDC embroidered patch 50:42 Upcoming events in the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia area – 18th annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest at Meadowbrook Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA on Sunday, August 4th from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Kathy is giving a talk and book signing for her book Ground Cover Revolution at the Patuxent Nursery in Bowie, MD on September 8th from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. 51:53 Check out the Urban Garden by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 52:47 Check out Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz for low-maintenance alternatives for lawns on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 54:15 Christy Page from GreenPrints on five most important ways to NOT kill your blueberries

Food Safety Newsletter archives and sign up 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
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

Friday, July 26, 2024

Fenton Friday: Rain, At Last

We got rain! Finally! Lots of it. Enough to soak in a few inches deep and everything in the plot is looking much better. That also means though that the weeds are roaring back so most of my garden time this week was spent cutting rampant vines and grubbing out little weeds that are just sprouting

I did get a minute to clear out an area for more cutting-garden flowers, so I planted a row of 'Lilliput' Zinnias and Dancing Petticoats' Cosmos. It is late in the season for sure, but I think if we get decent weather from here on out that I'll be enjoying bouquets of them from late August until frost.

The Tomatoes look really nice on the plants (see above pic) -- but as soon as they start to ripen they are pilfered by the rats, squirrels, and rabbits (and who knows what other creatures!). We may just have to pick them very green and see if we can get any to ripen on the counter or else we will never get any ourselves.

The rest of the garden is coming along nicely with lots of female blossoms on the Gherkin vines and the Peppers loaded with fruits waiting to turn to their final color stages.

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).

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Win an Audrey Hepburn garden quote T-shirt or tote bag from Michelle Bailey Art & Gifts in the July 2024 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest!

Win a choice of a unisex Audrey Hepburn garden quote T-shirt or tote bag from Michelle Bailey Art & Gifts in the July 2024 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest! (The prize retail value is $35.00.) 

    Michelle Bailey Art & Gifts (https://michellebaileyfineart.com/) is a small, woman-owned Montgomery County, MD, business. The gift offerings include original art, prints, T-shirts, totes, mugs, and more with local and nature themes. The contest prize is for the “To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow” Audrey Hepburn quote on a T-shirt or tote bag. The drawing of a child represents the past with water flowing from the frame down onto colorful flowers representing the future.

   To enter to win the T-shirt or tote bag, email WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on Wednesday, July 31, with “Hepburn Quote” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in the July 2024 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine issue and why. Include your full name and address. The winner will be announced on August 1. 

UPDATE:
Our contest winner is Phyllis Downey, Pasadena, MD!

Monday, July 22, 2024

Saturday, July 20, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 202: Documenting Gardens

In this episode, we talk with filmmaker Cintia Cabib, about her garden-related documentaries. The plant profile is on Portulaca 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 Flower Power for Your Veggie Patch from Christy Page of Green Prints.

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.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 185: Birdscaping

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-185-birdscaping.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 17: Garden Photography

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/06/gardendc-podcast-episode-17-garden.html

This episode is archived at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Documenting-Gardens-e2m85el

SHOW NOTES: 1:18 Welcome Cintia Cabib, documentary filmmaker and creator 1:56 Cintia’s gardening and family background 2:32 Cintia moved to DC from Argentina and discusses adjusting to living in America 3:27 How did Cintia become a documentary filmmaker? 6:00 How Cintia chooses the subjects of her documentaries and why they focus on the DC area 7:47 Cintia’s projects usually take around three years to make – what does she do during that time? 8:53 Fundraising is a major part of the job – how does Cintia approach that? 9:12 Cintia’s favorite part of the process is the producing and editing 11:17 Cintia talks about her 2011 film, “A Community of Gardeners” 15:53 “A Community of Gardeners” premiered at the Environmental Film Festival in DC – Cintia talks about that experience 17:29 You can find the film at communityofgardeners.com/ 18:05 Cintia describes the struggles of keeping in touch with past interview subjects 18:57 Cintia shares a story of showing up at a garden to film where theft occurred 19:55 How does Cintia make subjects feel comfortable on camera? 21:18 Cintia talks about her 2016 film “Labyrinth Journeys” 24:10 Cintia describes her most recent documentary “Bird Walk” 29:30 An update on Red Park – the golf course turned birder paradise shown in “Bird Walk” 33:29 Kathy and Cintia discuss Rock Creek Park Golf Course and how “Bird Walk” has influenced the fight to stop the removal of trees for a golf course there 39:13 There will be screenings of “Bird Walk” at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum on October 19th at noon and October 22nd at 11:00 a.m. and at Brookside Gardens – to find more information visit birdwalkfilm.com/ 41:05 Cintia is working on a platform for people to watch her films virtually 41:56 You can contact Cintia via email at cintia@cintiacabib.com or visit cintiacabib.com or birdwalkfilm.com 42:43 What is Cintia working on next? 43:42 Plant Profile: Portulaca 45:09 What’s new in the garden this week? The heat wave is finally over, Black-eyed Susan, and Sungold tomatoes 45:35 This week’s garden tip on growing tomatoes 46:00 Support the podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh... and email Kathy at kathyjentz@gmail.com to earn a GardenDC embroidered patch 46:30 Upcoming events in the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia area – 18th annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest at Meadowbrook Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA on Sunday, August 4th from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Kathy is giving a talk and book signing for her book Ground Cover Revolution at the Patuxent Nursery in Bowie, MD on September 8th from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. 47:37 Check out Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz for low-maintenance alternatives for lawns on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 49:06 Check out the Urban Garden by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight on Amazon.com and Bookshop.org 49:59 Last Word on Flower Power for Your Veggie Patch from Christy Page of Green Prints

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
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

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