Asparagus Planting (delayed entry, planted 2 14 08)

These were the asparagus starts that I planted 2 14 08. Other people eat chocolate or send cards with red hearts. I plant asparagus.

See today's entry below for how it looks now. Sprouts are 1 to 4 inches tall today.

These starts are bigger and plumper than I tried last year. They are mail order from Raintree.com.

This time they were soaked in water. Soaking time was about 2 hours.

They were planted in a trench. I covered them with a couple of inches of soil, wtihout filling in the trench completely. This is closer to the 'traditional' method, so hopefully I did it right this time.

What's Growing March 15 2008

VIctoria Rhubarb. This has been fertilized with generous helping of Chicken Compost, after earlier servings of Starbucks Coffee Grounds. The mulch is chopped yard waste, mostly trimmings from lavendar and grasses. Can rhubarb pie be far behind?

Chinese chives. Similar supplements as the rhubarb, but the mulch is bark mulch. This is more weed prone than the rhubarb, so I wanted something less likely to allow seeds to sprout. Chive dumplings ahead, in about one month....

Success at last! At least, in so far as getting purchased asparagus starts to sprout. So far 7 of the 10 planted have come up. On from of the asparagus, potato onions, about 5th generation of saving starts. This time I want to settle on this one heirloom variety only.

Harbingers of Spring. Chinese chives. Asparagus. Anigozanthos #3

These were planted about 3 years ago. Each cluster was one bulb. I keep thinking of the old Carly Simon song, "Anticipation".
The Chines chives are one of the first plants to start growing. They are also one of the first to produce an edible crop in the Spring. I did have some scallions today from a multiplier onion.
Despite the problem of not enough space, I planted some asparagus today. This was a tomato patch this year, but the tomatoes did not do well in this location. The asparagus should at least provide some wispy greenery, and maybe some vegetables in 2 or 3 years.
It's a good thing that I dont drink or gamble. Here is another anigozanthos. The purpose of the trip to Lowe's was to buy new light fixtures for the bathroom project. That led to a stroll into the garden section. This (variety "Kanga red") and a Chinese apricot (for Ning, it was planted in a too-small location but with pruning might do OK) were the result.