Fenton Friday: Blackberry Harvest

 

This week was there was no rain and constant, drying winds -- now the 90-degree days have moved in. That means I'm watering the tiny seedlings a lot and praying for a pop-up storm.

The Blackberries are ripening now and I harvested about a pint this week (see pic above) with many more to come. They are very large and juicy -- and delicious! I draped some plastic mesh over the shrub along with a few rubber snakes in hopes of keeping the birds off them for now.

I actually have harvested a couple Pea pods thanks to the wire cage around one remaining vine -- with the heat setting in now that is the end of the pea season. 

We harvested all the Kale and one of the summer interns planted tomatoes in their spot -- they are the Purple Tomato and Citrine.

The container with the Romaine Lettuce growing it wil be harvested next and I think I may put a Sweet Potato in there.

I harvested and shared the Dill and Cilantro as well as cutting a big bag of the bolted Cilantro for drying to go to seed to collect the Coriander. 

The Asparagus is now tied up and next to it is where the other summer intern planted Okra 'Puerto Rico Everblush'. The seeds were shared with us at our Seed Exchange last January and I am eager to try out this variety as we have never had it before.

I discovered more returning Dahlia plants! So they were not all a loss from last winter, just very slow to return.

In the pollinator strip, I planted more Cornflower seedlings and the interns planted three kinds of Nasturtium ('Baby Red', 'Baby Yellow', and 'Baby Gold') and Zinnia ('Zydeco Fire' and 'Crestar Fieldgrown Mix' seeds. I also added a Verbena seedling and we did a bit of weeding. The Crabgrass there is rampant and battling it is super-frustrating.

Next week, I plan to add Cucumber and Squash as well as the Lisianthus seedlings in the cutting garden.

What are you growing and harvesting in your 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 15th 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).