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Saturday, September 07, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 209: Seed Catalogs

In this episode, we talk with  Debby Ward of Prior Unity Garden about all aspects of Seed Catalogs. The plant profile is on Ground Cherry and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events and this week's garden tasks in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on Seed Libraries from Christy Page of Green Prints.

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/support.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 30: Seed Saving

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-30-seed-saving.html

This episode is archived at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Seed-Catalogs-e2o46li

SHOW NOTES available after 9-10-2024.
Here is the link to the free PDF with Debby's 15 criteria to vet a seed catalog/company: https://priorunitygarden.com/scc/ 

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
Interview Edit and Show Notes: Zachary Intrater
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

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Friday, September 06, 2024

Fenton Friday: Garden Theft and Beauty

The bad news first, I went to the plot today to harvest a zucchini I had examined yesterday while watering and decided to let grow for one more day. Well, it was gone. Not a trace. I never would've known it was even there if I hadn't seen it and noted it the day before. Such is life in the community garden in a very public urban location. I don't suspect my fellow plot gardeners and no trace of it remains so that rules out messy wildlife. It was a clean cut and whoever took it left two beautiful red tomatoes on the vine right nearby, so they must've been keeping an eye on it too. The sadder news is that today the zucchini plants are covered in powdery mildew, which means there will not be many more fruits to harvest as the season winds down.

On the good news side of things, I did harvest those two gorgeous tomatoes and some gherkins. I also cut a bouquet of flowers for my talk/demo at tomorrow's DC State Fair.

The great news is that the two variegated red cotton seedlings, that I was gifted by a gardener on the Daylily Society's Region 3 Meeting back at the end of June, have not only recovered from their tragically sad-looking start in my plot to be absolutely gorgeous plants. (See pic above of the flower and at right image of one of the leaves.)

Next week, we hope to have some cool-season vegetable starts to plant and to start the transition from summer to fall/winter in the 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 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).

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Tuesday, September 03, 2024

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!
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Monday, September 02, 2024

Monday Thoughts: "Emotional ties to plants are binding." - Lee May


"Emotional ties to plants are binding." - Lee May

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Saturday, August 31, 2024

GardenDC Podcast Episode 208: Seed Libraries

In this episode, we talk with Ciara O'Brien, Founder of the Prince Georges County Seed Library, all about seed libraries. The plant profile is on Cotton and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events and this week's garden tasks in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on Freezing Butternut Squash from Christy Page of Green Prints.

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/support.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 88: Seed Swaps and Exchanges

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/01/gardendc-podcast-episode-88-seed-swaps.html

This episode is archived at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Seed-Libraries-e2njo2t

SHOW NOTES: 00:39 - Kathy previews the episode 01:17 - Welcome Ciara O’Brien, founder of the Prince George’s County Seed Library 01:38 - Ciara discusses her childhood/family experience with gardening 02:56 - Ciara shares what type of gardening she personally engages in 04:00 - Kathy and Ciara talk about Prince George’s County, MD 04:49 - Ciara discusses her time with the Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps 06:07 - Ciara talks about the Pollinators and Produce program 06:59 - Ciara talks about her love of writing 08:11 - What is a seed library? 09:40 - Kathy and Ciara discuss seed returning/saving 10:25 - How did Ciara source the initial seed offering for the library? 12:12 - How did Ciara partner with the Prince George’s County Library? 14:10 - Who maintains the seed library on a day-to-day basis? 15:16 - Do you need to check in with a library worker to check out seeds? 15:44 - Where exactly is the seed library located? 15:58 - How are the seeds categorized in the seed library? 16:48 - Is there a limit to how many seeds you can take at a time? 17:42 - How are larger seed packets divided up into reasonable portions? 19:38 - Are seeds checked for quality/germination before being entered into the library? 20:31 - What kind of growing guidance is given with the seeds? 21:33 - What information is listed on the seed envelopes? 22:20 - Have you heard anything back from people who have used seeds from the library? 24:26 - Ciara talks about the seed library network 26:39 - Are there certain areas that have particularly high/low numbers of seed libraries? 29:54 - Ciara talks about the legal concerns around seed libraries 34:03 - Ciara discusses the scope of the current global seed market 35:32 - How can seed libraries make sure to access communities/populations that don’t normally have as much access to seeds? 37:04 - Are there specific kinds of seeds that people are requesting or are particularly interested in? 39:43 - Does the seed library include house plants? 42:00 - Kathy talks about how individuals can start their own seed libraries 43:51 - What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own seed library? 45:45 - Kathy and Ciara talk about how low-cost starting a seed library can be 47:00 - Ciara’s final advice for anyone interested in seed libraries in any capacity 47:58 - Where to contact Ciara? https://www.writtenbyciara.com/ 49:50 - Cotton Plant Profile 51:39 - What’s new in the garden this week? Roses starting to rebloom and peppers starting to mature 52:04 - Garden tips of the week: Seed starting for fall crops 52:22 - Upcoming local gardening events: DC State Fair, Urban Tree Summit, Garlic Planting Party, and more!

Ciara’s book recommendations*: - Seed Libraries: and other means of keeping seeds in the hands of the people by Cindy Conner - The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food by Janisse Ray *Amazon affiliate links

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
Show Notes: Zachary Intrater
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

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