They're heeeere!
My asparagus have come! My asparagus have come! My asparagus are here! They're not ready to eat, but they're here! You can't see me, but just so you know, I am jumping for joy!
Asparagus are a great vegetable to grow in the garden because they are so low maintenance once they are in the ground. Granted they can be hard work before they're up and going, but they are worth it.
You can see the spindly, little blanched spears in the picture... the poor things: through my own error the little dears were caught in transit for close to a week, so they were very emaciated and hungry when they arrived at my place. However, they were immediately put into a load of nice, rich compost. I'm crossing my fingers that I will have my first crop next year!
If you have a garden and can spare a spot in the sun, plant some asparagus! They require some room, but they come back every year (some asparagus stands on abandoned farmland are said to be close to 100 years old!!!)
And there is nothing like homegrown, picked-just-now-fresh spears.
Seriously.
I think I've mentioned it in every single one of my posts: asparagus are very perishable. Yeah, they're fine even after they've flown all the way from Peru, but they are sooooo much better when they hardly travelled anywhere at all. Just picked, they can be eaten raw: they are sweet and juicy, and wonderfully crisp, with hints of green apple and freshly mown hay. Once you've eaten these babies, you will never go back to store bought, out of season asparagus again.
Anyway. So as I was saying, if you have the room, plant some asparagus. Whether you buy them by mail order or from a plant nursery, they usually come with pretty reliable instructions, so I will only add this bit of advice: COMPOST. Your asparagus will be staying in the same spot until you decide to tear them out, so they need a nice sunny spot and lots of compost or manure dug into the area where you want them to grow. Water them in once planted, and that is pretty much it. Oh, and don't pick in the plant's first year: they need to be well settled in before you can pick.
Until then, buy local asparagus!
Asparagus are a great vegetable to grow in the garden because they are so low maintenance once they are in the ground. Granted they can be hard work before they're up and going, but they are worth it.
You can see the spindly, little blanched spears in the picture... the poor things: through my own error the little dears were caught in transit for close to a week, so they were very emaciated and hungry when they arrived at my place. However, they were immediately put into a load of nice, rich compost. I'm crossing my fingers that I will have my first crop next year!
If you have a garden and can spare a spot in the sun, plant some asparagus! They require some room, but they come back every year (some asparagus stands on abandoned farmland are said to be close to 100 years old!!!)
And there is nothing like homegrown, picked-just-now-fresh spears.
Seriously.
I think I've mentioned it in every single one of my posts: asparagus are very perishable. Yeah, they're fine even after they've flown all the way from Peru, but they are sooooo much better when they hardly travelled anywhere at all. Just picked, they can be eaten raw: they are sweet and juicy, and wonderfully crisp, with hints of green apple and freshly mown hay. Once you've eaten these babies, you will never go back to store bought, out of season asparagus again.
Anyway. So as I was saying, if you have the room, plant some asparagus. Whether you buy them by mail order or from a plant nursery, they usually come with pretty reliable instructions, so I will only add this bit of advice: COMPOST. Your asparagus will be staying in the same spot until you decide to tear them out, so they need a nice sunny spot and lots of compost or manure dug into the area where you want them to grow. Water them in once planted, and that is pretty much it. Oh, and don't pick in the plant's first year: they need to be well settled in before you can pick.
Until then, buy local asparagus!
i dont like asparagus
ReplyDeleteoh, how unfortunate. did you try eating freshly picked local asparagus? perhaps you'd find those more appealing?
ReplyDelete