This week we finally had a decent rain and once again escaped the threat of frost/freeze. So I continued to pick Peppers, Tomatoes, Basil, Cowpeas, and Cilantro.
A gardener from one of my garden clubs came by to collect orange flowers from me for her Day of the Dead display tomorrow. We pulled a bunch of Marigolds (still in okay shape) out of the shared compost pile and I cut several orange Dahlias as well for her. I cannot wait to see pictures of how that turned out.
The Radishes, Lettuce mix, Cauliflower, and Cover Crops are all under cover cloths now and are growing well. Can you believe I have more Blackberries developing also? We'll see if any of those ripens before the frost.
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 14th 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).
Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo)
are a summer squash that is used for a fall decoration and baking pies.
They are native to North and Central America. They are hardy
to USDA zones 3 to 9.
Pumpkins are easy to grow from seed. Wait until the soil has
warmed to 65 degrees in the spring and then form a mound of soil and plant 3
seeds in the top of it.
If all three seeds emerge, you can thin them to the
strongest one or two seedlings. I place a small wire cage on top of the
seedlings until they are several inches high to protect them from birds
plucking them out.
Pumpkin vines need lots of space to sprawl and should be
planted in full sun. Spread straw or other mulch around the mound as the vines
expand to suppress weeds and retain soil moisture.
They need consistent watering of 1-2 inches per week.
Fertilize them weekly.
Avoid overhead watering which will wet leaves as humidity
breeds mildew.
Another tip is to make sure your vine grows away from your
pumpkin, so your pumpkin will not grow over the vine and snap off the stem.
When you see a pumpkin forming on the vine, put a piece of
cardboard or thin board underneath it so it doesn’t sit in moist soil and rot.
This also helps discourage mice and other creatures from chewing a hole and
moving in.
If you are looking to grow a giant pumpkin, you need to
source seeds for the Atlantic Giant variety. You then need to start with soil
preparation in the fall, by preparing the soil with compost and testing the
soil conditions to see if they need amending
Smaller varieties of pumpkins can be grown in containers and
trained on a trellis. They do not
require the heavy watering and feeding that the large pumpkins do.
To harvest a pumpkin, wait until it reaches its mature size
and fully colors up and the stem starts to harden. Then cut the stem about 3
inches above the pumpkin. Then set the pumpkin in a sunny spot to cure for
about 10 days before storing it in a root cellar or basement.
Pumpkins: You Can Grow That!
The video was produced by Washington
Gardener Magazine.
Audio, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz
Video and Editing by Ellen Isaacson
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In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with the Ethan Kamerow of Cultivate the City, all about Carnivorous Plants The plant profile is on Mexican Bush Sage and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on the Many Ways to Use Pumpkin by Christy Page of GreenPrints.
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
Show Notes:
01:38 Introducing Ethan Kamerow and his gardening background
04:10 Ethan’s journey with Cultivate the City
05:35 Uniquely navigating a competitive market
07:03 Carnivorous plants’ behavior
08:28 How similar is this gardening to growing houseplants?
10:01 What does a Venus Flytrap love? Tips and tricks for watering and lighting
15:00 The kiddie pool method: Don’t forget to drain!
18:20 Setting the trap: Who falls in?
21:15 Propagation techniques for carnivorous plants
25:22 The Renaissance of Pitcher Plants: Breeding and Hybrids
28:06 Creating a Home Bog Garden
32:38 Other kinds of carnivorous plants
34:41 Handle these delicately and with care
37:27 Ethan’s Best Starters
40:12 The Fascinating Butterwort
41:44 Listen here if you have trouble re-blooming them
43:19 Pitcher Plants’ role in a garden ecosystem
46:16 Find out more about Ethan and Cultivate the City
48:30 Mexican Bush Sage Plant Profile
49:59 What’s new in the garden this week?
52:24 Creative Uses For Pumpkins with Christy Page
55:24 Support the Garden DC Podcast!
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!
This week we harvested Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and took off the outer calyx (pictured above) to let it dry on some indoor screens to make tea. I also saved a few of the seed pods to dry and share at our next Seed Exchanges.
Then we pulled one of the Jerusalem Artichokes aka Sunchokes from the pollinator garden strip. I had planted them there this spring figuring that the concrete borders will keep them in check and in future years they'd be available as a food crop to anyone who needed them. Pictured below are the tubers from that plant. I am letting them cure now along with the few Sweet Potatoes we harvested a few weeks ago.
I'm still cutting Dahlias daily. We are expecting a frost maybe this weekend. We shall see...
Once the frost hits, we will pull out the last of the Basil, Tomatoes and Peppers.
We thinned the Radishes and harvested some Cilantro. The Lettuce mix and Cover Crops are also growing well. However, one of the four Cauliflower seedlings has taken a hit. It is under a covercloth and all foliage was eaten -- maybe a slug or rabbit?
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 14th 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).
Hairy Aster (Symphyotrichum
pilosum) is native throughout the eastern half of the United States.
It is a perennial wildflower with small daisy-like flowers running along tall
stems. The stems have a hairy texture—hence the common name.
It’s other common names include Frost Aster, Awl Aster,
Steelweed, and Hairy White Oldfield Aster.
Hairy Aster blooms from summer into fall and is hardy to
zones 3 to 9.
It grows best in full sun. It thrives in disturbed soils
such as along roadways. It is also salt-resistant and drought-tolerant.
Hairy Aster is visited by many kinds of pollinators. Its
seeds are also a winter food source for songbirds.
If left to go to seed, it will self-sow easily. It is low-maintenance and
requires no fertilizing or other care.
Hairy Aster: You Can Grow That!
The video was produced
by Washington Gardener Magazine.
Audio and Text by Kathy Jentz
Video and Editing by Ellen Isaacson
➤ If you enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up
and subscribe to our Youtube
channel (thank you!)
➤Remember to TURN ON notifications to know when our new
videos are out
In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with the Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick & Son Orchids, all about the First Ladies' Orchids. The plant profile is on Snake Plant and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on the October Leafy Soirée by Christy Page of GreenPrints.
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
Show Notes:
01:38 Introducing Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick & Son Orchids
04:30 The Legacy of Orchid Breeding
06:07 Orchid Boarding: A Unique Business Model
07:47 What’s the perfect climate for orchids?
09:26 With so much variety, not sure what to choose?
11:07 Watering Tips: How much and how often?
15:07 Orchid’s Fragrant History
16:00 Corsages and Cattleyas: Fashionable First Ladies
18:03 The First Ladies’ Orchids project
21:13 “I’m a big fern fan myself…”
23:45 Looking ahead to the 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show
26:24 The classic Cattleya look
30:34 First Ladies with namesake orchids
30:55 Florence Harding
32:00 Grace Coolidge
33:10 The Evolution of Orchid Breeding
34:13 Lou Henry Hoover
34:52 Some of Kathy and Arthur’s favorites
35:30 Betty Ford and Rosalind Carter
37:42 Barbara Bush
39:07 Hillary Clinton
40:13 Laura Bush
41:42 Michelle Obama
42:48 Melania Trump
44:24 How else do orchids get their names?
47:58 Find out more about Chadwick Orchids
50:36 Snake Plant Plant Profile
52:24 What’s new in the garden this week?
54:55 The Last Word with Christy Page
58:24 Support the Garden DC Podcast!
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!
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