As discussed earlier this week, we need to get going on our asparagus.
For those of you who don't know, my invisible audience, asparagus is a perennial (read: grows back every year) and it takes a minimum of two years, typically three, before you can eat the stuff. So this is something we are laying the foundation for now, but won't be reaping any benefits for a while.
It seems like a good spot to put these guys. Out of the way, where they won't get accidentally uprooted or trampled or whatever else could possibly happen to a veggie.
You buy what are called asparagus crowns apparently. They were in the fridge at the nursery. I'm not sure why exactly they were in the fridge, but they were. So are the strawberries, who we will revisit later.
Our bag of asparagus:
Alas, I do not have many pictures of the process because I had a helper this weekend - my friend's daughter. She is 5, pushing 6, and loves some dirt time. So since I was busy watching her, plus being all dirty myself, the experience didn't make for great photo-ops. Well, it did, I just had no interest in getting my phone dirty.
Asparagus need to go in a soaked bed that is roughly 8-10 inches deep. My grandpa started it for me, thank god, because digging in this clay is not easy. I dug it down a bit more and cleared out the remaining mulch that was in the bed.
With all that down, my helper and I placed the asparagus in the trench, roughly 1 foot apart from each other.
For those of you who don't know, my invisible audience, asparagus is a perennial (read: grows back every year) and it takes a minimum of two years, typically three, before you can eat the stuff. So this is something we are laying the foundation for now, but won't be reaping any benefits for a while.
It seems like a good spot to put these guys. Out of the way, where they won't get accidentally uprooted or trampled or whatever else could possibly happen to a veggie.
You buy what are called asparagus crowns apparently. They were in the fridge at the nursery. I'm not sure why exactly they were in the fridge, but they were. So are the strawberries, who we will revisit later.
Our bag of asparagus:
Alas, I do not have many pictures of the process because I had a helper this weekend - my friend's daughter. She is 5, pushing 6, and loves some dirt time. So since I was busy watching her, plus being all dirty myself, the experience didn't make for great photo-ops. Well, it did, I just had no interest in getting my phone dirty.
Asparagus need to go in a soaked bed that is roughly 8-10 inches deep. My grandpa started it for me, thank god, because digging in this clay is not easy. I dug it down a bit more and cleared out the remaining mulch that was in the bed.
With all that down, my helper and I placed the asparagus in the trench, roughly 1 foot apart from each other.
See those stringy things, that's the asparagus root. When I was taking them out of the bag, I suddenly had flashes of the tendril alien thing from the movie Alien.
After they were in the trench, we covered them with two inches of soil and watered some more. Apparently we will keep filing in the soil as the roots grow. So when they start peeking though, more soil goes on top. Kinda like potatoes.
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