By Josh Panepento
Washington Gardener Magazine stood out for many reasons when I was looking for internships. One is that Kathy Jentz takes her interns to the community garden every week and has them plant and maintain
their crops.
This opportunity excited me. I attempted to grow a tomato plant the summer before but got lazy and it eventually died. During our first intern meeting, Kathy asked me if I would like to grow tomatoes to which I immediately responded, “Yes!”
Three months later, I am happy to report that I was not lazy this time.
I grew 'White currant', 'Orange Icicle', 'Buratino', 'Green Zebra', and 'Wonderstar Red' tomatoes for this project.
Orange Icicle
Kathy gave me two tips that I had not tried before. The first was putting crushed eggshells in the soil under the plant. The other was using fish fertilizer which was great until the bottle burst one day and covered me in brown sludge and a terrible smell.
For the first month, it was a lot of watering and pruning with no results. At the beginning of July, the white currants started to form and my hope was restored. That month saw more progress as all the tomatoes started to form.
The main problem we ran into (other than the fish smell) was the lack of rain this summer and record hear wave. Luckily, Kathy was nice enough to keep watering when I was not around, but the damage was still there. Another problem was having critters steal and eat the tomatoes.
But we made it through and by the end of July, the White Currants started to get their light-yellow color and were ready for harvest. The Green Zebras were also ready although many of them had large cracks from the drought. Despite this great progress, they did not win any prizes at the Montgomery County Fair. This was not a surprise and I took pride in being able to enter the contest.
On August 15th, I was able to harvest a beautiful-looking Wonderstar Red and a pair of Orange Icicles. After almost three months, I am happy to say that all the variants yielded at least one good tomato and this project was a success.
Wondertar Red
The lessons I learned are patience and persistence – two things that go together. Growing anything takes time. As hard as it is to wait, there is no other choice! There is no sense in giving up so you might as well give it 100 percent.
Through this internship, I’ve met many wonderful people and experienced some amazing events. But the lessons I learned in the garden may be the most important of all and I will take them with me everywhere I go.
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).
About the Author: Josh Panepento is a rising senior in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. This summer semester, he is an intern at Washington Gardener Magazine.
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