Worth the wait.

So what was supposed to be the most exciting part of this veggie year turned out to be a bit of an after thought. Such is life, and I am reminded that life goes on every day despite everything.


So in rather short order here is the planting of the mighty Asparagus. I can't wait for the first crop. It will be in May 2011. I'm not kidding. This is a marathon not a sprint and the inclusion of the Asparagus on the bottom plot finally caps off the total transformation of the bottom plot to perennial plants. With some judicious mulching I'll hardly have to weed the bottom plot at all.

(Yeah right!)


I'm burying weapons of mass destruction in 4 ten feet long silos!



Once the trenches have been dug I part filled them with well rotted horse poop.





Then I dropped some soil back on top and hoed up the sides of the bottom of the trench.





Plant your Asparagus over the mound



and spread out the roots.


Cover with finely sieved soil. Now....................WAIT TWO YEARS!


The crops will start growing straight away.



Aawww look.

Don't bee fooled see that stone next to it.....



Tiny!



I need a manicure!


By the end of summer these tiny little shoots will grow into ferns about four feet high and about three feet across. I have to let them grow and die back this year and again next year and only at that stage can I start to crop them.

I've got 20 plants (10 early and 10 late cropping) so If you know me well and live local I'll almost definitely be dropping off Asparagus when I visit! But not any time soon.