Everything is basically humming along -- the weather has been a bit on the cool side, though the arugula has shot up like it is mid-summer!
One thing I tackled this week was reclaiming a 4x6 bed on the left-side of the plot from the rampant weeds. This is where I had planted a winter cover crop of mustard greens and let the white egg turnips decay in place. Well, they did that and the soil is great, but neither crop prevented a solid mat of chickweed and purple dead nettle from taking over! The good thing about that heavy, fast-growing weed growth is that I could go underneath and cut them off at the soil level and just roll the whole mat back like a big shag carpet.
In the picture above, you'll see on the right side the portion I cleared and then covered with nice compost mulch. The middle part (where the upside-down pot is) shows bare soil just cleared of the weeds, but not mulched yet with compost. The left hand part is still the thick mat covering of the two weeds.
By the way, both chickweed and purple dead nettle are edible and I wish I had chickens to feed them too - or even a few minutes to process these into a pesto or other dish. (The few minutes I had in the plot this week were stolen from other pressing deadlines!) Maybe next I can do so for the next round, as the weeds will no doubt be back next spring.
What are you growing and weeding out of your edible 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 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.
