Meet the New Interns

This fall, I have taken on two editorial interns. If you attend upcoming gardening events in our region, like the Urban Tree Summit, you are sure to meet them. Look for their author bylines in upcoming issues, on the GardenDC Podcast, and our YouTube channel. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers

Hi everyone! My name is Ellen Isaacson (pictured above at right), and I am a senior at the University of Maryland in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. I'm a multimedia journalism and French Language & Literature double major with a minor in general business. I've loved writing since I was little, and I've started pursuing journalism as a contributing correspondent for the local publication, the Source of the Spring. I also have some gardening experience from working at Johnson's Florist and Garden Center in Kensington during my last two years of high school. I loved learning about different plants, helping customers with their gardening questions, and seeing their excitement once their gardens started to thrive. My parents and other family members love to garden, and I've always enjoyed helping them take care of their plants. In my free time, I love to read, listen to music, ski, hike, and spend time with friends and family. I'm excited to be working with the Washington Gardener as a publication intern this fall and learn more about gardening and magazine writing, and publishing. I hope that this experience will strengthen my journalistic skills and expand my love for plants and the outdoors. 

Hey gardeners, my name is Cavit Ireland (pictured above at left), I’m a senior journalism student at the University of Maryland and I’m excited to create content and cultivate crops for the Washington Gardener as a Fall 2025 intern. I have experience working with local news and on the air, hosting Sonic Fruit, a weekly music program on WMUC 90.5. I have also worked with the Greenbelt News Review covering community events, businesses, and social issues and Roots Magazine as a music reviewer. When I was home in New York this summer, I helped my parents rejuvenate their front garden with beautiful hydrangeas and baby trees, while also making sure the vegetable garden didn’t grow out of control. We grew some strong mint and juicy plum tomatoes that went into a delicious salad. While working with the Washington Gardener, I want to improve upon my own homesteading while bringing insightful, helpful information to the community.

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.

GardenDC Podcast Episode 250: Garden Hacks

In this special 250th episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, I let the interns take over the show and ask me their gardening questions. I share my best garden tips and hacks for solving problems ranging from pruning hydrangea to choosing organic fertilizers. This episode was also videoed so you can watch it on YouTube and other platforms that offer video podcasts.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 100: Behind the Scenes

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/04/gardendc-podcast-episode-100-behind.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 200: Secrets of a Gardening Podcast

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/06/gardendc-podcast-episode-200-secrets-of.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 142: Hydrangea Care and Pruning

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-142-hydrangea.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 51: Companion Planting Strategies

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-51-companion.html

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter/subscriber at: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/subscribe

Visit https://shop.kathyjentz.com/ to browse our new online store!

This episode is archived at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CauHImB6havSOafQqiyPY?si=WPOBR8BmTECiuY6IB5PQrA

Show Notes will be posted after 8-5-2025.

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gardendc/id1502631179
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5AsWArNpQo8OlzHoMDMSI8?si=3ebaddb186214fc6
• RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/gardendc-G2ql5V
• iHeartRADIO: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-gardendc-73615877/
  
• aCast: https://play.acast.com/s/gardendc
  
• Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/776561ca-75d6-4c63-833b-7dafedf57a72/GardenDC
• Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/GardenDC-Podcast/B08JJNZBMX
• Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/gardendc
  
• Bullhorn https://www.bullhorn.fm/gardendc
• Chartable: https://link.chtbl.com/GardenDC
• Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/GardenDC-id2691161?country=us
• Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/5587897
• GoodPods: https://goodpods.app.link/u3gtlpybILb
• Headliner: https://play.headliner.app/podcast/37086
• Himalaya: https://www.himalaya.com/courses/gardendc-1747568
• Ivy: https://ivy.fm/podcast/gardendc-940013
• Listen Notes: https://lnns.co/VIfcBjWRnw6
• Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/gardendc/
• PocketCasts: https://pca.st/9phvd8bk
• Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/2629285
• Podfollow: https://podfollow.com/GardenDC
• Podlink: https://pod.link/GardenDC
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gardendc-1137444
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1502631179/gardendc
  
• Reason: https://reason.fm/podcast/gardendc
• TuneIn: http://tun.in/pj7Sb
• Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/gardendc/
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/washingtongardenermagazine

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 Interns: Colin Davan, Ian Ferris, and Miguel Zarate

Interview Edit & Show Notes: Ian Ferris

Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

Meet the New Summer 2025 Interns

This summer, I have taken on three editorial interns. Look for their author byline in upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues and on this blog -- as well as on the Washington Gardener YouTube videos and GardenDC Podcast. As a first assignment, I've asked them to write a short introduction to our readers so you can get to know them.

Hello! My name is Colin Davan and I am super excited to be joining the Washington Gardener Magazine this summer! I am a rising senior at the American University in Washington, DC, studying journalism with a minor in history. I grew up just outside of Boston in two different towns, Hopkinton and Framingham. My backyard was always filled with a wide variety of flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, bees, and maple syrup, therefore I have always been surrounded by a horticulture lifestyle. On campus, I have worked on different journalistic projects in courses ranging from broadcast film, podcasts, digital and print news articles, and photojournalism. I am excited to continue to develop my journalistic skills while working in the garden throughout this incredible internship!

Hello, fellow gardeners! My name is Ian Ferris, and I’m so excited to take you all through a scintillating summer of garden stories. I’m a rising senior at the University of Maryland studying journalism and sustainable agriculture. I have a passion for all things environment and hope to write about and research environmental problems that affect communities who aren’t getting their stories told in my future career. In the past, I’ve worked two summers on a garden farm called Maidstone Harvest, where I learned a lot about growing vegetables in a sustainable and efficient fashion. Hopefully, I can bring some of those tricks to the garden this summer! I just spent the last semester abroad in Barcelona, and I can’t wait to be back interacting with my home community through journalism. That’s why I’m so excited to intern for the Washington Gardener. Through this internship, I can improve my writing and journalism while learning more about the environment and its many beautiful systems. I hope you all will join me on this journey by checking out my work!

My name is Miguel Zarate, I am interning for the Washington Gardener this summer! I’m excited to be a member of the staff. I attend the University of Maryland in College Park and I am majoring in Journalism with a minor in sustainability. Outside of that, I am an alumni of the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House and I just love all forms of writing in general. Growing up, my mother worked for Montgomery County Public Schools, starting as a head of maintenance where she did a lot of environmental work. Later, she was offered the position of director of sustainability. This is when I was introduced to the concept of sustainability and have been striving to bring it to my studies with my university’s minor program. My mother has a garden that I help out with, so far my favorite thing to grow is mint because it’s so plentiful when you get it right.

Fenton Friday: Growing My First Salad

Guest Post by Skylar Drew

This semester at Washington Gardener, I finally got down in the dirt and learned the basics of edible gardening. After so many years of watching the adults in my childhood neighborhood constantly planting and weeding, my turn had come!

In early March, I planted 'White Globe' Turnips,  'New Zealand' Spinach, and 'Frosty' Peas in the community plot and anxiously awaited their sprouts. Unfortunately, my spinach never made an appearance, but seeing the tiny green leaves peeking out from the turnip and pea rowss filled me with awe. We eventually planted Carrots, Radish, Lettuce, Onions, Arugula, and Cilantro in the following weeks to make for a more plentiful harvest. The turnips grew ferociously, and a few (returning) potato plants even sprouted in the same bed! (We harvested a few mid-sized turnips on my final visit to the plot. The peas are still growing and may be ready to harvest in a month.)

I was shocked to find how simple it can be to grow your own food, especially since I was often only in the garden once a week. Still, I have plenty to learn. The vegetables really took off during April and on the first of this month, we were able to harvest some of the Lettuce and Arugula! Bringing it home to make a small salad was one of the highlights of my semester, and I was so proud to have helped raise something from seed into sustenance.

Even on the days where I felt I was dragging, I was always excited to see how much each plant had grown from the last time I had been there to weed or water.

As spring closes in on summer, I’m looking forward to beginning my own garden back at home with the knowledge Washington Gardener editor Kathy Jentz has given me. I’m especially excited to one day start a small pollinator garden. I’ve always known gardening to be extremely important, but it’s one thing to know and another to do. I’m so grateful that I was able to have this experience of growing something myself, and I see myself in a long line of people to spread the word: plants are life!

What are you growing in your edible garden this week?

About the author: Skylar Drew is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a senior journalism major at the UMD College Park. She is from Bel Air, Maryland, where she watched her mom grow her garden.

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).

Meet the New Interns: Spring Semester 2025

This winter/spring, I have taken on two editorial interns. Look for their author bylines in our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues and on this blog, our YouTube channel, GardenDC Podcast, etc. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers so you can get to know them. 

Hello my name is Madison Korman (pictured above, left) and I recently graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a history minor. While attending I wrote a variety of pieces for several student publications including food policy and culture articles for the Black Explosion newspaper and fashion pieces for the Campus Trainer magazine. Additionally, I previously interned at the College Park Here & Now and I am excited to gain more writing and gardening experience working at the Washington Gardener. Since I was young I have always enjoyed gardening and cooking what I am able to grow and can’t wait to expand my gardening and photography skills and share what I create with the readers.

Hi everyone! My name is Skylar Drew (pictured above, right), I’m a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland and I’ll be interning for Washington Gardener Magazine this spring. I’m from Bel Air, Maryland, where I’ve watched my mom and neighbors grow small gardens of their own throughout my childhood. Although I’m new to the world of gardening, I hope to come out of this semester with a toolbox full of knowledge to help me get started on my own garden back home. I’ve covered music and entertainment for my school’s publications, The Diamondback and Her Campus Maryland, and wrote data stories for Capital News Service last fall. When I’m not writing, I enjoy running, crocheting, and illustrating my own comics that I hope to publish one day. I’m looking forward to meeting experts and fellow novice gardeners at each event this spring, so don’t be afraid to say hello if you see me!

Fenton Friday: Broccoli Harvest

Guest Post by Zachary Intrater

This semester as an intern for Washington Gardener, I attempted to grow broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower at the Fenton Street Community Garden. Before this, I had never actually grown anything myself, so I wasn’t super-confident that I would get the best results. I planted the seedlings (sourced from a local indepedent garden center) in early September, and each Monday afternoon when I would meet with Kathy, I would check on and work on my plants.

The work that I would do each Monday mostly just consisted of watering and weeding. Due to my lack of experience, I often needed help from Kathy as far as which weeds I was supposed to be pulling out, and how much I was supposed to be watering. While this was a bit of an intimidating experience for me since I was afraid I was gonna mess things up, Kathy’s help made it so much easier.

There were some holes in the leaves early on from pests eating them so we covered the plants for a few week with a covercloth to keep them out. You can see the white covercloth pulled back in the photo at the top of this post.

After several weeks, all the plants grew quite large. The broccoli heads started to form, but no heads have formed yet on the Brussels sprouts or cauliflower. By the time we harvested on December 2, there was just one good-sized broccoli head and a handful of really tiny ones that are still forming on the broccoli plants. 

The broccoli crown that we harvested weighed in at 1.1 ounces (see pic at right) and honestly looked better than I would’ve guessed it would if you had asked me at the beginning of the semester. I’m not a big broccoli eater myself, so I let Kathy hold on to it, and she’s going to use it in a pasta dish.

Overall, growing my plants in the community garden was a lot of fun. Much like this internship as a whole, it was a new and slightly scary experience, but one where I learned a lot and added new skills to my repertoire. I think that I may take what I learned from this experience and grow more plants in the future, probably potatoes. Happy gardening!

About the Author:
Zachary Intrater is a senior in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. This fall semester, he is an intern at Washington Gardener Magazine.

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)

Meet the New Intern

This fall, I have taken on an editorial intern, Zachary Intrater. Look for his author byline in our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues and on this blog as well as in our GardenDC podcast credits. As a first assignment, I asked him to write a short introduction to our readers so you can get to know him.

Hello everyone, my name is Zachary Intrater and I’m very excited to be interning with the Washington Gardener this fall! I’m currently a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. At UMD, I work as the assistant managing editor for our student-run publication, The Diamondback. I worked my way up to this position after serving as a copy editor and then as copy chief over the past couple of years. As assistant managing editor, I’m the last person to look over a story before it gets published for fact-checking, grammar, structure, style, etc. I grew up right here in the DMV (Silver Spring, MD) and I’m very excited to use my skills as both an editor and a writer to contribute to the Washington Gardener in these coming months!

Fenton Friday: Tomato Report

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.

Orange Icicle

I grew 'White currant', 'Orange Icicle', 'Buratino', 'Green Zebra', and 'Wonderstar Red' tomatoes for this project.

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.

Wondertar Red

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.

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.

Meet the New Interns

This summer, I have taken on two editorial interns. Look for their author bylines in our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues and on this blog as well as our GardenDC Podcast and YouTube channel. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers.

My name is Esha Bhatti (pictured at left) and I am a senior at the University of Maryland in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. I’m a multi-platform journalism major with a concentration in public policy. I decided to pursue journalism after I witnessed how minority Americans such as myself are often misrepresented by mainstream media. I hope to bolster the voices of these individuals so that they can be the writers of their own stories. I served as head of the Howard Community College Times from 2021-2022, contributed diversion stories to The Diamondback in 2023, and most recently wrote about campus life at Her Campus magazine. I garden a little bit at my home in Highland, MDm with my mom, and have always loved being outdoors. I’m thrilled to be a part of the Washington Gardener team this summer with hopes of nurturing a shared love of gardening among people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

Hello! My name is Josh Panepento (pictured at right) and I am a rising senior journalism major at the University of Maryland. On campus, I am the editor-in-chief and reporter for Terrapin Sports Central and a reporter for Maryland Baseball Network. My earliest gardening experience is helping my mom and grandmother with their gardens. In elementary school, my mom bought each of my two sisters and me a sunflower and taught us how to take care of it. I still enjoy helping her with her backyard garden and trying to learn what I can. I am excited to attend events, tell local stories, and learn more about gardening this summer.

Intern Intro: Cassie and Hannah

This winter/spring, I have taken on two editorial interns. Look for their work in our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues, on the GardenDC Podcast, at our YouTube channel, and on this blog. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers...

My name is Cassie Peo and I am a senior at the University of Maryland in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. I’m a multi-platform journalism major with a minor in history. I've been writing all my life and have worked with the on-campus publication The Campus Trainer at UMD. I have also worked with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism through the College of Journalism. I am excited to be working with the Washington Gardener this spring and to learn more about both gardening and magazine publishing. In my free time, I enjoy reading, drawing, and painting, as well as spending time outdoors and running. My mom keeps a garden during the summer in New Jersey and I love to help her outside when I am home. I am excited to be able to contribute to the Washington Gardener and I hope that after working here, I will have the confidence to expand my garden and experiment with growing new plants.Hello everyone! 

My name is Hannah Zozobrado, I am one of the spring 2024 Washington Gardener interns. I’m from Silver Spring, MD, and am currently a senior journalism student at the University of Maryland, College Park. In the past few years, I’ve pursued journalism through different publications and organizations on campus, such as The Diamondback as a video reporter, The Campus Trainer as a Music & Arts section editor, and Monumental Magazine as a staff writer. I’m looking forward to working with Washington Gardener and applying my learned journalistic skills to this internship while exploring such new content—all I really know of gardening is whatever my mother has taught me, planting trees and flowers in our backyard. While I don’t usually garden in my free time, I enjoy going outdoors and, like a plant, basking in the sun when the weather is just right. I also love spending time with my family and friends, as well as partaking in artistic pastimes like sewing and scrapbooking; I particularly love to document fond memories with my Polaroid, digital, and film camera. As this is my last semester as a college student, I hope to keep record of all the fun in the coming months, and I can’t wait to see how Washington Gardener blends into the mix!