I arrived on a breezy, sunny afternoon to find some nice gifts in the garden. I was able to harvest about 4 pounds of asparagus and set to work cooking it on the grill for dinner. I have been eating asparagus from the farmer's market for a few weeks now, but still it does not have the flavor of fresh from the garden. 
The next morning I found some random greens ... spinach and sorrel ... and I set it aside in the fridge. 
So the harvest has begun. Now I must set to work doing all the things that other gardeners have been doing since March ... pulling weeds ... cleaning beds ... working compost ...I must say I feel that the season is at least two weeks ahead this year. The landscape looks like Memorial Day not May Day. I even got my first whiff of autumn olive this morning. Two extra weeks of growing season is fine with me.
3 comments:
I can't wait to harvest fresh asparagus next year. It must be wonderful to find these gifts from your garden upon your arrival.
So how many asparagus crowns did you plant? We planted about 30 of them three seasons back but our harvest is still pretty limited. I fear we have not fed them well enough. How do you keep production up?
I planted 24 crowns about 12 years ago. I amended the bed with plenty of composted manure and planted in the fall. I did not pick for 3 years. In the years following I followed this regimen: Around Father's Day I do a final pick and weed the bed thoroughly. Then between each row I put down a bag of composted cow, water well, cover with straw, and leave it alone. After the first hard freeze, I remove the yellowed ferns from the garden.
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