Fenton Friday: Winter Weeds Have Won

weed patch

 My first week "back" for the growing season at my community garden plot has been a disheartening one. I have never seen weeds taking over like they have this winter. Usually, my straw groundcover is enough to maintain order and I just have to pull out a few stray weeds around the edges.

Not so this year! Pictured at left is my plot of solid weeds - mostly awful Henbit and Chickweed - plants as large as a healthy shrub. I had cleared one patch a month ago on a warm day, can you tell where that was? Nope! Looks exactly like the rest of the plot and those of my neighbors as well.

I don't have the energy to face this mess this weekend in the bitter cold winds, so maybe will try and return to weed next week.

strawberries in flower

Meanwhile, my strawberry patch is doing fine - though it is flowering far too early. If they get zapped in this weekend's freezes, will I have any berries later on?

My asparagus is doing okay (see: http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2016/04/asparagus-you-can-grow-that.html) and the peas the interns planted on end of the plot are coming up fine. They also planted smalls of radishes, carrots, and greens. Of those, only the radishes are showing at this point. We'll give it another week and maybe plant more new salad greens, if the first set of seeds do not germinate by then.
 

pea seedlings

How is your edible garden growing 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. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)  

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: GreatGardenSpeakers.com

The goal of GreatGardenSpeakers.com is to provide a better way for garden clubs, botanical gardens, and other venues to easily find and book speakers. "We noticed
 that program chairs of garden clubs and other venues have a hard time finding excellent speakers, and we see this as a useful service to the gardening and horticulture community. If you are planning a workshop, symposium, conference, or panel discussion involving plants and the natural world, we are your one-stop shop for premier speakers."

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

How to Advertise in Washington Gardener Magazine

 

We invite you to advertise in Washington Gardener magazine, a regional gardening publication that debuted March, 2005. It’s the only publication specifically targeting Washington, DC-area gardening enthusiasts.

Video Wednesday: UMD in Bloom

Here is a short and lovely video of spring at the University of Maryland campus arboretum in College Park, MD. I was happy to see this posted as I am organizing a tour of the campus for my garden club (Silver Spring Garden Club) on April 19th. Despite this latest cold snap in the weather, spring has definitely sprung!

Asparagus: You Can Grow That!

Nothing says, "SPRING!" like fresh Asparagus. With no real work on my part, I was able to get a decent harvest of Asparagus this week from my community garden plot. The only thing this perennial vegetable really requires is patience.

Having to hold off on harvesting for three years from the initial planting date was a real test of my will power, but the wait is worth it. They are so tender fresh from the garden that I do not bother to cook them in any way, I just snack on them raw.

To plant them, buy Asparagus crowns via mail-order or in bags from your local garden center. Plant them in a trench about 6-12-inches deep and a foot wide in a sunny spot in your garden. Add in some organic compost when re-filling the hole and then keep the area well-mulched.

Asparagus baby in trench

I let strawberries encroach in my Asparagus bed as their surface-runners don't really interfere much with the Asparagus roots, but you really should keep it weeded and free of interloping plants.


Other than that, the only other thing I do is tie-up the long Asparagus fronds in the summer and fall with a bungee cord as they like to flop over into the pathways. These get cut back and composted at the end of the growing season.

Asparagus spears in strawberry patch

If I had to do it all over again, I definitely would have started off the first year in my garden plot with Asparagus, instead of waiting for year two. I also would have planted much more of it. I started with only three rootlets and I am harvesting a decent amount, but I am greedy for more, more, more!

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

How to Submit a Local Garden Event Listing

Washington Gardener Magazine's monthly online magazine features a listing of local garden-related events. We receive thousands of emails per day (no exaggeration!) and hundreds of event listings each week. We only list garden-related events in the Washington, DC region (DC, MD,  and VA plus parts of DE, WV, and PA), If you want yours to stand out from the crowd and make it on the list, please follow these simple instructions:

To submit an event for this listing, please contact: Wgardenermag@aol.com and put “Event” in the email subject head.

Please put all pertinent event information in the body of the email including date, time, event title, sponsoring organization, any cost, and a web link for those who wish to get further details.

Please do NOT attach PDFs, JPGs, TIFFs, etc. to the event notice.

Our next deadline is April 10 for the April 2016 edition featuring events taking place from April 16 - May 15. Then, the next deadline after that is May 10 for the May 2016 featuring events taking place from May 16 - June 15. And so on...

Local First Friday: Veteran Compost

Veteran Compost (http://www.veterancompost.com/) turns food scraps into organic compost in the Washington, DC metro area. 

A veteran-owned business, it employs other veterans and their family members. The team collects trash and food scraps from bins in both residential and commercial areas. They also work special events, composting materials for anything from small weddings to large festivals.

Veteran Farms has a 30-acre farm in Aberdeen, MD, with a farmhouse dating from the 1870s. The team uses wind power there to compost materials, and they have a large-scale vermicomposting operation in their barn, collecting castings from more than a million worms, according to their website

The business was started by Justen Garrity nearly six years ago. Garrity, who grew up in Howard County, MD, was in the Army for around 10 years. Upon returning, he noticed a demand for organic materials for soil improvement. He created Veteran Compost to meet this need and help with the landfill problem.

“We get to work with so many great people in our business,” said Garrity. “It’s a cool way to help people be more environmentally sustainable.”

Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans have a higher-than-average rate of unemployment. Also, two-thirds of the material that we throw away each year is compostable. Veteran Compost seeks to solve both of these issues. 

The business sells organic compost blends, gardening and potting mixes, seed starting mix, worm castings, and tea and coffee bags.

While it started very small, the business has been expanding largely since its inception.

“We’re always growing,” said Garrity. “We’ve been steadily hiring more employees, requiring more equipment, opening more facilities.”

About the Author 

Seema Vithlani is a junior multi-platform journalism major and French minor at the University of Maryland. This spring she is also an editorial intern for Washington Gardener Magazine.

"Local First Friday" is a weekly blog series profiling independent garden businesses in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic region. Washington Gardener Magazine believes strongly in supporting and sourcing from local businesses first!

DIY: Garden in a Glass

Guest blog by Daisy-Nelly Nji
 
If you are someone who’s always been interested in gardening but never had the space for it, this DIY project is for you. By building your own terrarium, you too can grow luscious plants in your office or home. The best part is you don’t need very many materials to start your garden and maintaining it is a breeze. Below are some simple instructions on how to get this garden for yourself.

Materials:

1 Clear Glass or Plastic Container

Pebbles

Potting Soil

Moss

Cacti/Succulents

Step 1: Place about an inch of pebbles at the bottom of the container

Step 2:  Add a light layer of moss on top of the pebbles (this will help keep the soil from settling into the pebbles)

Step 3: Add about 2-3 inches of potting soil on the top of the moss

Step 4: Remove the Cactus/Succulent from its container and plant it in the soil (depending on how big your container is you can plant and arrange numerous cacti as desired)

Step 5: Place the Succulent in direct sunlight and lightly water the base of the plant every two weeks as you notice that the soil dries out

Tip: Change the size of the container every year or so, in order to accommodate your plants growth. 

About the Author

Daisy-Nelly Nji is a senior journalism student at the University of Maryland. She is a multi-platform journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. This spring, she is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener Magazine.

This is a monthly guest blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.com.
 

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a Row for the Hungry is People Helping People Since 1995, over 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape -- just people helping people.

Plant A Row is a public service program of the Garden Writers Association and the GWA Foundation. Garden writers are asked to encourage their readers/listeners to plant an extra row of produce each year and donate their surplus to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry.

There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.

Support Plant A Row and help make a difference in your community.

PAR Hotline 1-877-492-2727 or go to  http://www.gardenwriters.org/GWA-Foundation-Projects-Plant-a-Row-for-the-Hungry-Start-a-PAR-Campaign

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

Video Wednesday: Pea Planting Tips

 

After this long, harsh winter, we are all eager to get out and see anything green. Now is the perfect time to get acquainted with and grow the numerous early season crops we can cultivate in the Mid-Atlantic’s cool, wet spring months of March and April.

Many delectable edibles prefer the early spring mild weather days and practically melt when our hot, humid summers arrive. Tradition says to plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day and this week is a perfect time to set up a vegetable patch or planting boxes full of cool-season edibles. Watch this video for some easy pea planting tips to get you started.

Win 3 Rosy-twisted stalk Plants in March 2016 Washington Gardener Reader Contest

For our March 2016 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, Washington Gardener Magazine is giving away three Streptopus roseus plants to one lucky winner, courtesy of Sunshine Farm & Gardens, based in Renick, WV, and online at www.sunfarm.com. (Total prize value of $25).
   Rosy-twisted stalk (Streptopus roseus) is hardy to Zones 3 to 10. It has supple, medium-green, arching, Solomon’s Seal-like foliage. Its pendulous pink flowers turn to deep-red berries and persist until autumn.
    It is a perennial that is native to the eastern half of the United States. The arching stems are 8–12" long and a mature plant is about 12" around. It prefers full shade to dappled sunlight with average to moist soil. There are no insect, pest, or disease problems; amazingly, it is 100 percent deer-proof. It is also known as Rosybells, Rose Mandarin, Scootberry, Liverberry, and Rose-bellwort.
   To enter to win the Streptopus roseus plants, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on March 31 with “Rosy-twisted stalk” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in the March 2016 issue and why. Please also include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced and notified on April 1.

UPDATE: The winning entry chosen at random was Alison Mrohs of Rockville MD. Congratulations, Alison!