Fenton Friday: Cool-Season Seed Starting

Photo by Ellen Isaacson. 

The past week was cool and we got a bit of rain, but could use more. It is pretty dry when you dig down an inch or so.

This week we planted Parsley, Buttercrunch Lettuce, and two kinds of Cilantro. (See pic above for the varieties and seed sources.) We also moved the bunny-proof wire (hardware cloth) barrier from the old greens bed to this one and add some compost to adjacent areas to keep the weeds down.

This week we harvested a couple Cucumbers, some Zucchini, lots of 'Sun Gold' Tomatoes, a few 'Lunchbox' Sweet Peppers, Thai Hot Red Peppers, a handful of 'Rattlesnake' Green Beans, and a big bunch of Basil for making pesto to freeze for winter meals. I also cut Dahlias for bouquets.

The cucumber vine is looking very past prime and I think I should yank that as well as the Green Bean vines soon. The Cow Peas are not producing pods yet, but the plants look great now that the rabbits are leaving them alone!

I am waiting on the Hibiscus to produce a few more flower pods, then plan to test out brewing tea with several of  them. Anyone have experience with this? Pointers?

Next week, we will plant more cool-season veggies in the bed of last season's greens that we cleared this week.

What are you growing and harvesting 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.)

Fenton Friday: Potatoes and Purple Carrots

August was our coolest in 25 years, but also our driest! The heat is back this weekend, I'm hoping also along with a few decent rain storms.

We planted the Carrot 'Dragon' seeds from Seed Savers Exchange way back in mid-April. Carrots are notorious for taking a long time to germinate and grow. This variety says 90 days to havest, but I left them in the ground far longer. We dug them this week to make room for cool-season lettuces and herbs. They are gorgeous! More importantly, they are delicious --10 out of 10. I'd definitely grow them again.

In that same bed where we dug out the carrots were some German Butterball Potato plants that popped up over the summer from leftovers from previous years' crops. (Is it ever possible to find and dig up every last potato tuber?) We harvested about a cup and a half of them and they made a tasty roasted side dish for dinner last night for two of us.

This week I also harvested a couple Cucumbers, some Zucchini, lots of 'Sun Gold' Tomatoes, a few 'Lunchbox' Sweet Peppers, a handful of 'Rattlesnake' Green Beans, and a handful each of Dill and Basil for flavoring some dishes.

New intern Ellen also picked several Thai Hot Red Peppers -- they are small, but mighty!

Next week, we will plant those cool-season greens in the bed we were clearing (mentioned above). 

What are you growing and harvesting 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.)

Fenton Friday: Colin’s Cucumbers and Zucchini

Colin Davan and cucumbers. Photo by Ian Ferris.

Guest Blog by Colin Davan

With a pile of seeds spread across the table, I was left with some tough decisions. After my fellow summer interns Miguel and Ian had picked their tomatoes and peppers, I was tasked with four seed packs: two kinds of cucumbers and two types of zucchini plants. 

However, these were not just any vegetable plants. Each brought their own unique challenges and tasks. Starting with the cucumbers, I had one pack of Slicing Cucumber and another of Japanese Climbing Cucumber, which required a tomato cage surrounding it, hence the name.

Moving to the zucchini, I was in charge of the Nimba Squash Zucchini and Dark Star Zucchini. 

The summer plot got off to a hot start with Miguel and Ian planting their tomato and pepper seedlings. In my first week, I spent my time thoroughly weeding and clearing out the section of the plot I was given. Since these vegetable plants required so much space, I delayed my seed sowing until the second week. 

The second week, I returned and formed the four small mounds spaced out a couple of feet from one another. After I planted the seeds in each mound, topped them with compost, and surrounded them with straw, I protected them with small wire pieces (hardware cloth), so the urban pests would not come to take my special seeds or baby seedlings. I stood back and took a picture of the dirt mounds. I began to wonder: what will come of these seeds? Will I find any success in the garden this summer?

After returning the following week, a glimpse of success began to push out from the mounds. Small green seedlings had begun to arise with a few pesky weeds around them. I tended to my four small mounds and returned the following week. 

When I returned, I saw an increase in seedlings that were beginning to flourish. Both of the cucumber plant mounds exploded as each had several small seedlings that I would eventually thin down to two each. However, I was not seeing close to the same progress with my zucchini plants. 

Photos from top down: Thriving 'Nimba' Squash Zucchini, Climbing Cucumbers, and failed 'Dark Star' Zucchini.

I would come to find later on that my zucchini plants would ultimately give me problems all summer. The Dark Star never produced a seedling and the Nimba Squash grew much more slowly than my cucumbers. However, that did not deter my garden grind. We planted a different zucchini squash variety (' Zucchini 'Black Beauty') in Dark Star's former spot and gave extra care to my zucchini each week.

As the blazing hot weeks in the garden went on, my Nimba Squash and both cucumbers would grow at exponential rates. Powerful rainstorms all throughout July, hot sunny days, and a little bit of fish fertilizer created the perfect mix for results. 

By late July and early August, I had begun to see flowers and small cucumbers, but no actual zucchini yet. A bit of concern began to creep in as the deadline for submissions in the Montgomery County Fair was quickly approaching, and I did not have enough similar-looking cucumbers or zucchini ready to submit an entry. 

I was able to harvest many cucumbers from my Japanese Climbing plant and ended up submitting them to the DC State Fair (results below*). While the zucchini plants struggled, I was able to get a nice zucchini, which I used in a chocolate zucchini cake. (Thanks Kathy for the recipe!)

At the end of my Fenton journey, I realized this experience was not only about producing cucumbers and zucchini, but also of overcoming obstacles and strengthening my patience. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity with the Washington Gardener Magazine this summer, as I got to enhance my journalistic skills while also being on the Fenton plot working in a nice community garden.

*UPDATE:

The cucumber won first place! See the results at https://www.dcstatefair.org/2025-contest-results.

About the Author:

Colin Davan is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener. He is a rising senior at the American University in Washington, DC, studying journalism with a minor in history. He grew up just outside of Boston in two towns (Hopkinton and Framingham), both with backyards always filled with a wide variety of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits.

Fenton Friday: Learning While Growing Tomatoes

 
Guest Blog by Miguel Zarate

At the beginning of the summer, the other interns and I were given a selection of vegetables to grow throughout the course of the summer. I chose the tomatoes as they had always been a subject of interest for me. 

 

I had constantly heard from my mother and grandmother how unruly and difficult to grow they are--needing specific conditions to grow. I decided to take on the challenge, we were growing from seedlings already started in pots. so the difficult task of getting to seed was already taken care of. 

 

On that first day, we took them to the garden to be planted. I also planted a marigold flower right at the edge of the tomato bed. This helps to deter certain pests and keep my tomatoes safe. 

 

With that, the plants were in their spots. I planted five varieties: 'Marriage Mazinera', 'Celebrity', 'Green Zebra', 'Sun Gold', and 'Wild Cherry' (currant). The Marriage Mazinera’s ended up not lasting very long. It wasn’t in the best shape when I planted it, so I wasn’t upset about the death of my plant, but I still had hope. I put it in the center, hoping that being in the middle would promote nutrient cross over from the others. 

 

In the following weeks, we developed a routine. After our weekly indoor meetings, we would head to the garden to weed, water, and fertilize. On weeding, this is definitely my least favorite part of gardening. We also had some aggressive Yarrow, which desperately wanted to be a part of the garden but I had to pull it out each time it grew and got close to the tomatoes. 

 

As a kid my parents would have me help them in the garden, pulling various weeds from the ground. I hated it, sitting in the sun and wrestling with plants wasn’t my idea of a fun morning back then. 

 

As an adult, I still didn’t enjoy it, but this time around it felt like I was growing for myself rather than being told to do it. If I didn’t, my tomatoes would die. 

On that subject, the first week of July brought my summer nemesis: blight.

My poor Wild Cherries were afflicted with the blight. I’m a relatively inexperienced gardener, so I did my best to trim the infected leaves but it didn’t go the best. The infection stayed with the cherries all the way until the end. Luckily, I got a few tomatoes from it before the fungus claimed the life of another tomato. 

Another thing I noticed about my tomatoes was their growth, they started about a foot tall and quickly grew, to just over two to three feet tall. This led to two things: one, they were all over each other which caused the blight to jump to other tomatoes, but removing those infected leaves was simple. The other issue was that my tomatoes were becoming unruly neighbors to my co-intern's Ian Ferris’ peppers. 

It was on me to wrangle these plants, so I used some string and tomato clips that mostly stopped them from stretching over boundaries. 

 

In the end, I harvested handfuls of small 'Sun Gold' tomatoes. For the harvest where we entered the tomatoes into the Montgomery County Fair, I was out of town. Kathy Jentz submitted them for me and they earned third place in the "orange, preserving (aka cherry)" tomato category, which wasn’t something I expected for my first tomato plant. I’m proud of them for growing so well. I will definitely grow more of my own tomatoes in the future. I’m so glad I had this opportunity with the Washington Gardener, definitely not what I expected for my summer when I switched to journalism, but the experience has been incredible. Growing a plant really teaches you about patience, which is something you need a lot of as a writer and reporter.

 

About the Author:

Miguel Zarate is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener. He is majoring in journalism with a minor in sustainability. His favorite thing to grow in his mother’s garden, where he helps out, is mint, because it is so plentiful.

Fenton Friday: Prize-winning Peppers

 

Guest Blog by Ian Ferris

I began my summer as an intern with a choice: Which vegetable would I grow? Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. It felt like choosing a starter Pokémon. In my haste to select the best option, I chose the one that intrigued me the most: peppers — as tasty to the mouth as they are to the eye. And what a choice it was.

I began with small pepper plants of four different varieties. Planting them brought me back to my days working on a farm, where I would plant dozens of plugs without thought. This time was different. I took time planting these, carefully digging holes with proper spacing and giving these wee plants a good start in their new home.

Next came maintenance as my infants grew up. Peppers don’t need too much work if the growing conditions are right. Every week I would give them a good share of water, always feeling that they must be as thirsty as I was in the hot summer heat. The other tool they needed for success was nutrients. After a couple of weeks of letting them grow, I began giving them a dose of fish fertilizer before they were watered. This ensured they were well fed and ready to put those nutrients into big, healthy fruit.

Along the way, I helped out with the rest of the garden, pulling weeds from around my peppers and the surrounding areas. I really do hate weeding. I would also help harvest blackberries and attend to any tricky misnomers occurring that Kathy had spotted — mostly hacking away at the pestsome mulberry trees that kept sprouting around the garden and trimming back ambitious plants.

My peppers only encountered some trouble: slight wilting on the bottom leaves, likely due to the frequent tropical-like thunderstorms we’ve endured in Maryland. Beyond that, my only worry was whether they’d produce enough fruit in time for the fair. This seemed hopeless at times, but it was the pepper plant with the smallest fruit — instead of the largest — that surprised me. It grew uniform, delicious-looking peppers that looked like they would ripen in time.

While I was out of state on vacation, Kathy took care of my peppers and harvested them in time for the fair. These peppers had one last surprise for me. Upon strolling toward the awards table, I noticed they placed second and third in their category. Deep pride filled me. It is this shared feeling among gardeners that makes the whole ordeal worthwhile. Together, the plant and I worked hand in hand to produce a gorgeous and delicious fruit — although the pepper plants did most of the work. For that, I’m grateful to my peppers and to the Washington Gardener for a great summer growing.

About the Author:

Ian Ferris is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener. He is a rising senior at the University of Maryland studying journalism and sustainable agriculture. He worked on a garden farm near Annapolis, MD, called Maidstone Harvest for two summers, where he learned a lot about growing vegetables in a sustainable and efficient fashion.

Fenton Friday: First Zucchini

This past week brought in cooler temps and lower humidity -- it was glorious! We didn't get any real rain, so I watered a few times, but the ground seems damp enough a few inches down that I can skip a few days.

The Zucchini is finally producing (see pic above) and is covered in blossoms that I hope also develop fruit soon.

We are preparing out county fair entries this week, though we won't have 5 equal-sized cucumbers and enough of the several other category entries that I'd hope for... the fair seems too early for a lot of our produce to be ripe and some rules require 15 identical examples of an item or a full quart, which makes it tough for a plot gardener to enter. Still, I'll have plenty of cut flowers and can do at least one pepper and one tomato entry.

The rabbits seem to be giving the Cow Peas and Green Bean plants a rest this week, so they are setting flowers and we may actually be able to harvest some in a few weeks.

I made fresh pesto with our Basil and cured Garlic. 

We also tackled more weeding and tying up wayward Cucumber vines as well as reining in the now-tall Asparagus.

Everything else is humming right along...

What are you growing and harvesting 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.)

Fenton Friday: Rinse and Repeat

This past week was more heat and more storms following by more rampant vine growth. This weekend promises to be some weather relief and maybe we can catch up on some weeding then.

We were able to pick several Cucumbers and Cherry Tomatoes plus a few Blackberries. We are leaving the Peppers in place in hopes we can gather enough next week for our fair entries. The Zucchini plants continute to bloom with no fruits forming -- yet.

Some bunny has once again munched on the Cow Peas and Green Bean plants.

I cut more Dahlias, Lisianthus, Zinnias, and Marigolds to enjoy in indoor vases.

This is the week I plan to cut the Basil to make fresh pesto and to get that Brussels Sprout seedling into the ground.

Everything else is pretty much a holding pattern waiting for those larger tomatoes to ripen...

What are you growing and harvesting 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.)

Fenton Friday: First Cukes

The good news is lots of cucumbers are forming on the rampant vines (see pic above). The bad news is the cucumbers may have a wild disease. Something is impacting their foliage and I'm going to go out early this weekend to more closely inspect the leaves when it is not so blazing hot.

Speaking of the heat, we are in another extreme heat wave, but this time we are missing those daily (late-day) thunderstorms. I've had to water a few times this week and hope for some of the forecasted rains this weekend to come through again -- though they are very hit-and-miss so the odds of us getting anything substantial are slim.

It was also another week of beating back the invasive morning glory vines and other weedy vines trying to choke out the tomato plants, dahlias, etc.

There are lots of blossoms on the Zucchini plants, so I think they will start producing very soon.

Lots of peppers are forming -- we'll see about picking some of them this week.

The Sweet Potato vine in the large container is starting to take off as is the Hibiscus.

I cut some Dahlias, Lisianthus, Zinnias, and Marigolds to enjoy in indoor vases. I also saw a self-sown Celosia plant is popping up next to the Dahlias, which is great as I never got around to starting those seeds.

I picked more 'Sun Gold' Tomatoes and some of the first Currant tomatoes along with a handful of Blackberries. I plan to pick Basil this weekend to make fresh pesto.

It was too hot to start some of the cool weather crops, so I'll wait for next week for that. Someone gave me some Brussels Sprout seedlings and I'm really hesistant to plant those out right now.

What are you growing and harvesting 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.)

Fenton Friday: Vines Gone Crazy

It was another week of hot temps and daily thunderstorms. This has caused rampant growth of both our Cucumber/Zucchini vines, but also the invasive morning glory vines (see pic at right of them on our deer fence). They pop up everywhere throughout my plot and attempt to choke out any other plant they can climb on. I spend most of my weeding time unwinding them and riipping them out. 

We put in another few cages to train the climbing Cucumbers on them. There are lots of flowers and I see tiny fruits forming.

I picked our first few 'Sun Gold' Tomatoes and pinched back the Basil plants.

Some bunny came and ate all the foliage off the Cow Pea plants. Luckily, they resprouted new foliage even higher up and I hope that it is now out of rabbit range. 

I collected the Cilantro stems that were going to seed.

We fnally got the netting up for the Lisianthus. The plants are still pretty spindly and I've cut a few short flowers from them. Now that they are settled in I expect them to take off and fill in.

Next week, we should be starting some of the cool weather crops and maybe even harvesting a cucumber or two!

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.)

Fenton Friday: Basil and Blackberries

Another hot and humid week with almost daily watering and weeding visits to the plot... thank goodness we got a few good evening thunderstorms with decent rains.

I finally got the sprouted Sweet Potato planted in a large container that I placed in the plot. I'm hoping this year that being in a container will stop whatever critters ate all my sweet potato tubers last year.  I also added a thick layer of Bloom soil ammenedment on top of the sweet potato's soil to give it extra nutrients as it grows.

We thinned the Basil seedings and Carrots. See the picture above where I scattered some of the basil thinnings and the Blackberries we picked on a white dinner plate for a little artsy salad sampler.

The Peppers, Beans, Cow Peas, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Zucchini are growing well in all the heat. I'm already seeing some 'Sun Gold' tomatoes ripening and lots of peppers forming. I think in two weeks or so, we'll be having steady harvests of many of these.

Next week, we should be able to collect seeds from the Cilantro and plant something else there in its place -- perhaps start some early fall crops. I'm not sure what yet, maybe peas, becuase every year I seem to be too late in getting those started to get much out of them by the time a hard frost hits.

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).

*Note that if you click on this Amazon affiliate link and oder something, Washington Gardener may get a few pennies, but it wll not imopact your purchase price.

Fenton Friday: Tiny Garlic and New Pollinator Signage

We dug up our small garlic harvest this week. You can watch the IG live video of it here. The bulbs are rather puny this year and I lost most of the ones I planted. I believe they rotted after our long, wet and cool spring this year. 

We planted the Hibiscus sabdariffa I received at a plant swap this year and I'm looking forward to collecting some of the dried flowers to make Hibiscus tea with it,

We also planted the 9 Lisianthus I had still sitting in pots. We wll meed to go back bext week and put in horizontal netting to support them as they are already flopping on the ground.

We replaced the dud Zucchini seeds with Zucchini 'Black Beauty' -- I hope they germinate soon.

We thinned the Cucumber seedlings -- both mounds have several plants up and I think 2-3 per mound is already plenty.

We tied up the Dahlias, which tend to get heavy and split open by mid-summer. I also cut some blooms to enjoy inside.

We replaced the row of dud Marigold seeds with 'Burning Embers' -- again I hope the second try is the charm.

I planted a row of 'Dwarf Sunspot' Sunflowers from Harvesting History to the pollinator garden strip in any open spots.

I added a sprinkling of Bloom soil to both the Marigold and Sunflower seeds to give them a little extra boost in getting started.

I also applied two coats of varnish to the plant labels we created last week for our Pollinator Garden and stuck them in the ground today. They are made from blank paint stir sticks that I ordered on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3Tkoqp8*. You can also, of course, collect a few paint stir sticks when you visit your local paint store, but I needed them in larger quantities The labels are meant to inform those who wonder what some of the plants are and also to alert folks that, yes, this corner garden strip is being maintained by someone.

Next week, we thing the Carrots and see if we can collect seeds yet from the Cilantro.

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).

*Note that if you click on this Amazon affiliate link and oder something, Washington Gardener may get a few pennies, but it wll not imopact your purchase price.

Fenton Friday: Open Garden

We hosted an Open Garden for members of the Takoma Horticultural Club and other community guests. (See pics here taken by Miguel Zarate.) We gave garden tours, held a scavenger hunt, and decorated plant label sticks for the Pollinator Garden Strip. Refreshments included some Garlic Scape Pesto I made with the scapes from my plot and Blackberry Sauce (to pour on store=bought poundcake) that I made from our last few blackberry harvests.

This week brought record heat and not so much rain -- so I was out there watering the seedlings daily.

A few of the bean seeds we planted last week have already emerged -- Pole Bean 'Rattlesnake' and 'Iron and Peas' Cowpea. I am hoping the others emerge soon too and that the pesky baby bunny I found hiding under the Asparagus spares them.

The Basil 'Prospera' seeds are up, but no sign yet of the 'Italian Large Leaf' Basil. We can give that another week. 

In the Pollinator Garden Strip, I added a "Bee Happy" Bidens plant that I'd been sent to trial and will sow some dwarf Sunflowers today too to fill in the middle of the strip that was looking a bit empty. 

The heat finally broke today and we were able to woodchip most of the pathways. 

Next week, we conquer rebooting the Cutting Garden.

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).

Fenton Friday: Cucumbers and Dahlias

Cucumber seedlings - hardware cloth screen
covering mound - photo by Colin Davan

This week's weather was hot and humid with LOTS of rains -- so there was no need for any supplemental watering. We did apply a weak solution of fish fertilizer* to the tomato and pepper plants, now that they've been in the ground for a few weeks. We'll continue to do that weekly throughout the season.  

The Cucumber seeds planted last week have sprouted (pictured above), but only one of the Zucchini ones has. I will give those another week before considering replanting that mound.

We harvested another quart of Blackberries and cut a few Dahlias (these plants were left in the ground last year).

We reset a large trellis up and started four kinds of bean seeds on/around it. Those include Bush Bean 'Jade', Bush Bean 'French Filet', Pole Bean 'Rattlesnake', and 'Iron and Peas' Cowpea.

And we seeded in a couple rows of Basil ('Prospera' and 'Italian Large Leaf') and planted a Thai Basil seedling along with a 'Prospera' Basil photo for comparison purposes.

In the Pollinator Garden Strip, the Marigold seedlings are starting to flower, but the Zinnias are still a few weeks from any flowers. 

Next week, we conquer rebooting the Cutting Garden.

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).

*This link is to our Amazon affiliate account. Washington Gardener may earn a few pennies if you click on the link and order something, but it will not impact your purchase price.

Fenton Friday: Cukes and Zukes

The summer interns are pictured above next to their respective plant responsbilities. (This image also gives you a good idea of what our plot looks like overall this week. I stood on the cistern's platform to take it.) They helped weed and water this week. We cleared out the right-hand bed for the Zucchini and Cucumbers, There are four mounds now. One each for 'Japanese Climbing' Cucumber that I ordered from Seed Savers Exchange, Slicing Cucumber English Seedless from Harvesting History, 'Dark Star' Zucchini from Seeds of Change, and 'Nimba' Zucchini from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I hope all the seeds come up in each mound and that we will be thinning them to the best two or three seedlings on each mound soon after that. To protect the tiny cuke/zuke seedlings as they ermerge from birds plucking them out, we put hardware cloth wire covers over the mound.

This week's weather was hot and humid -- we had some rain, but by have had to do some supplemental watering..

We harvested a quart of Blackberries and cut the Garlic Scapes. The Cilantro and Arugula are bolting and I put a cover cloth over them as I want to collect their seeds.

The tomatoes and peppers are settling in. We planted Margold seeds in a line in front of both these groupings adding to the one Marigold 'Marvel II' plant we put in last week, which is already blooming.

In the Pollinator Garden Strip, the Common Milkweed, Calendula, Borage, Violets, and Cornflower are all flowering. The Marigold and Zinnia seedlings are doing well, but the Celosia have disappeared so I'm going to reseed that section--maybe with miniature Sunflowers. Also, someone threw a glass bottle in there that shattered everywhere so am picking out that glass as I weed and water--I'm hoping I get it all.

And... we have mice. One of the interns spotted and removed a dead one from our plot and we save a live one scurry through. So, on top of the resident rabbits and rats, we'll need to keep an eagle eye out for these new pests and have any fall fruit and other things cleaned up in the plots to discourage their future visits. 

Next week, I hope to start our Green Beans seeds, Basils, and reboot the Cutting Garden.

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).

Fenton Friday: Beet Red

 

The new summer interns joined me in the plot this week. We pulled all the Beets and Radishes -- see above pic showing the harvest bounty and me with a matching red face from the exertion in the hot sun. Well, that brings up this week's weather which has turned hot and humid -- back to "normal" for us in early June.

We also pulled weeds and the whitefly-infested Broccoli plants were chucked.

We harvested a few handfuls of Blackberries and handfuls of Cilantro as well as the last of the Lettuce. I am leaving the Cilantro and Arugula in as they are now bolting and I want to collect their seeds.

We planted five Tomatoes and four Peppers along with a Marigold 'Marvel II' I was sent to trial. The Tomatoes are: 'Green Zebra', 'Sun Gold', 'Marriage Marzinera', 'Celebrity',  and 'Currant Red/Matt's Wild Cherry'. The Peppers are: 'Thai Hot Red', 'Lunchbox' (sweet), 'Lemon Spice Jalapeno' mild yellow pepper, and 'Escamillo' sweet yellow pepper.

Next week, I hope to start our Zucchini and Cucumber seeds along with some Green Beans.

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).

Fenton Friday: Turnip Harvest

It was another very wet week and cooler-than-average temperatures - but I'm not complaining! The heat looks like it will arrive soon, so I'm frantically trying to weed and switch the plot over to summer crops.

I pulled all the 'White Globe' Turnips. They grew to be big and beautiful. I donated a bunch to a local food collection and gave the rest to friends.

The Broccoli plants are a mess. They are infested with whiteflies or some similar pest - despite the covercloth we placed over them. I need to yank them all soon and will maybe do a Squash in their spot.

I picked a handful of Blackberries, one pod off the scrawny Pea vines, cut some Lettuce for salads, and Cilantro for garnishes. I also pulled one Beet and a few Radishes to test them.

Look ahead, we need to pull the rest of the Radishes and Beets, then plant our Tomato and Pepper seedlings. 

Then I need to restore my cutting garden - the Dahlias are all back and getting big, but I want to add Lisianthus seedlings and start Cosmos from seeds too.

At the pollinator garden strip, the Calendula and Common Mikweed are blooming as are donated Bachelor's Buttons and some Violas I transfered from my home garden. The Zinnia and Marigold seedlings are growing stronger and I should be able to thin some out this week.

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).

Fenton Friday: Soggy Weeds

It has been a very wet week with heavy rains on most days and cooler-than-average temperatures, so I've hardly been out to the garden plot. That means the weeds are running rampant and I'm far behind on several chores.

At the pollinator garden strip, the Calendula and Common Mikweed (pictured above) are blooming as are a couple Bachelor's Buttons.

Look ahead, I need to start my cutting garden. I have several Dahlias that wintered over fine and will add a tray of Lisianthus seedlings that I purchased. The rest (Cosmos, Zinnias, etc.) I will start from seeds.

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).