our homestead: first signs of asparagus and my garlic's looking good

Watching vegetables grow is so rewarding. When I'm not out weeding, mulching, hauling dirt in my wheel barrow, pruning or slug hunting, I just like to sit and admire all of the little starts I planted pushing out of the ground. Today, I spotted tiny turnip, carrot and lettuce sprouts, as well as I found some two inch onion starts and sunflowers. My peas are also vigorously climbing and are about a foot tall now. My lacinato kale starts are about half that height.

 

Anyway, I discovered a few purple asparagus spears starting to shoot out of the earth where I planted them back in April. Ha, my first thought was, "Yipee! It's working!". I really derive some simple happiness from watching things grow because whenever I plant something, I put a little hope into the success of my seeds. We've been having such a cold spring that any growth seems exceptional to me. Oh, and my garlic's looking great too! Thick, long green leaves which emit a pungent garlic aroma whenever I brush my hands by them while weeding. We'll be sure to have some gourmet roasted garlic for dinner this summer at my house!

our homestead: planting asparagus crowns

I was visiting with my mom the other day when she informed me that our local nursery had $1.00 Jersey King and Sweet Purple asparagus crowns for sale. $1.00! Hot boy! That's a deal! The asparagus crowns I'd been dreaming about were retailing at around$7.00 each, thus about 30 minutes after she let me in on this great find I was at the nursery, digging through a tub of soil picking out the best 10 crowns of each variety. Such a steal...I felt like an asparagus vandal.

Asparagus is a ferny spring perennial which will last about 15 years, providing delicious crunchy spears at the very start of the growing season. The only catch- you have to let it establish itself in the first two to three years after planting it before you indulge. So, there's a bit of planning involved when you decide where you want to grow your asparagus. I chose a previously prepped, deep raised bed at the bottom of my hill that receives ample amounts of sunlight every day (asparagus loves sun!). I checked my soil about a month ago, it seemed I had a pH of about 6.5...asparagus prefers a pH range of 6.5-7.5 so before I planted my crowns I sprinkled a few handfuls of wood ashes along my bed in the hopes that it would help maintain a pH ideal for my little crowns. Asparagus crowns are really cool looking- they are essentially a clumpy bulb with several long rooty tendrils. If you hold two up under your nose they'll make an earthy mustache.

To plant the crowns I dug 20 holes, 6 inches deep and about 18 inches apart from one another. I've also heard that folks can dig a long, 6 inch trench, but I wanted to stagger my plants. I spread a few inches of homemade compost in the bottom of each hole and then gently set each crown into place, being sure to spread about all the roots as best I could. I then covered each crown with about 2 inches of soil, and as my asparagus spears emerge from the earth I'll hill soil up around them (much like you hill potatoes). I then mulched around my asparagus. Throughout the next few years I'll try to keep my crowns well-fed and weed free so that they might prosper and become a welcome friend at future springtimes.