Asparagus Bed

This weekend I put in my second asparagus bed. The first one has been abandoned to lawn, sadly, in year 3 when I would just be seeing some decent sized spears. The new asparagus bed is on the slope between the garden shed and the garden with the other "perennial" foods such as rhubarb, strawberries and horse radish. There is a clump of horse radish on each end of the asparagus row. Well, actually there was a clump on one end, and the first thing I needed to do was get a second clump started. The big clump of horse radish is on the back corner of the house. This batch I salvaged out of what was the chicken yard, and is now lawn. Since then, Tim has tried to get me to get rid of that clump, and I keep digging it up and transplanting it. But, in typical horse radish fashion, it only comes back bigger and thriftier. It likes the corner of the house. Sunday I examined the new shoots, and found two or three off to the side. I began digging, got two small roots, and then hit on a 3/4" root that seemed to disappear under the house. I dug about 20" out before I gave up and broke it off.

Because I don't want this thing heading off in new directions already, I broke that in half, put some in the fridge for later, and planted the more manageable remaining foot long root at the end of where I want the asparagus row to be. I got out a string line, drove a spike in the existing clump, measured from the edge, and drove a spike in the second clump. Then I began raking the thick mulch away from my new row.

They say you should make a ridge down the middle of your "trench" so you can set the crown on the top of the ridge and arrange the roots down the sides, encouraging them to grow down deeper. I did this, then spread a cup or so of bone meal down my trench.

The asparagus crowns had been soaking in water for a day, and were ready to plant. I laid out a tape measure, and spaced them along my trench about 18" apart.

Then I placed each one on top of my ridge, arranging the roots.

Each crown should be covered about 2" to 3" initially, with more soil or mulch being added throughout the season. Interestingly enough, I've read that the depth of the crown is what determines the thickness of the shoots. The more shallow crowns produce the thinner shoots, and the deeper crowns produce the thicker shoots.

While I was diddling around in the asparagus bed, Mike and Tim were scraping and regrading Mike's driveway. There was quite a buildup if gravel, dirt and moss which required the box scraper to remove, and the bucket to redistribute and level.

Then Mike got the priveledge of using Tim's "Two Ton Rock Crusher". Actually, it's only one and a half tons. But I affectionately call it Two Ton. When you roll it down the road, any gravel in it's way explodes into smithereens. Tim fabricated Two Ton in response to being gravely disappointed in all commercially available lawn rollers. He bought one a couple of years ago, and after using it once or twice, returned it's mangled fragments to the dealership in disgust. He then set about building a more usefull version. But you have to be careful. If the lawn is too wet, it will crumple it up like a a throw rug.

Only Mike and Tim could turn driveway rolling into recreation. They look like they're having a good time don't they?

S'getti and Meatballs

It's a sugar-coated ice cream world

It may have dumped 6 inches of lake effect snow on the garden today, but we can still enjoy meat balls and home made tomato sauce

Mmmm... summer....

Am I behind already?

I find it rather boring to blog if I don't have a colorful picture to talk about. So, here is a photo of my lovely vintage general store seed box and some of my favorite garden themed collectibles. The seed box sits on top of my pie safe and that's where I keep all my seed packets from year to year, so I've been in and out of it daily this week.

I had in my mind that April 1st was plenty of time to start Peppers and Eggplants, with Tomatoes Mid-April, and then I read my blog from last year to find I am now two weeks behind. I guess this means hibernation is over. March was rather dismal this year. No warm temperatures or Spring rains. Just cold and snow, but finally the sun has come out. The daytime temps are still hovering around 40, but the ground is firm enough to walk on.

We spent last Sunday raking and tidying up the yard. There are still a few oak leaves lurking about, but the sticks are rounded up, the beds are tidy and the driveway has been raked and gravel added where needed. We had A LOT of mole damage in the lawn, so I will be setting a lot of mole traps.

This past weekend I planted some lettuce and chard directly in the garden. I used my home made version of this gardening grid that I had neighbor Mike fabricate for me out of shop scrap.

The rhubarb is up.

Mike and Shelly's Parsnips left in last fall are being dug, along with a few carrots. My seed orders are beginning to arrive. Time to get a flat of peppers and eggplants started. This year I decided to try something a bit different. Usually I plant directly into individual pots, but that means I am skipping one transplanting step and I could be getting my tomatoes planted a bit deeper and giving them a chance to develop a better root system. So this time I started with a flat of seed starting mix and no pots.

It can be hard to get the mix to absorb water. I solved this by slitting open the bag, adding hot water, and letting it sit over night. Then I glopped the damp mix into the flat and squished it around. There is a lot of extra room in this flat! When the seedlings are large enough to be transplanted into individual pots, I'll reuse the mix for some other potting project.

So right now I only have one flat of gardening going. By next week there will be two flats, lights, timers, the works.

Winter Hibernation

I refuse to come out of hibernation just yet. To everything there is a season, and my gardening season does not start until March. But some of you may be wondering what we've been up to.

I started a new project. Upon a White Horse. After years (ok, decades) of wishing and dreaming, I finally purchased a Side Saddle. And I am endeavoring to teach myself to sit on it, which is proving no simple task.

I've also planned myself a dream vacation and will be spending one weekend in March staying at Hunter's Rest in Virginia and going Fox Hunting with the Old Dominion Hounds. Which, in this day and age would be more aptly called "fox chasing" so don't be worrying about those clever little foxes. They'll be just fine. After hunting, we will be going off to the Warrenton Hunt Point to Point Races to hob nob and tailgate with the Virginian horsey set. And, because "Virginia is for lovers", I will be towing my husband along with me.

Tim has not been strictly in hibernation either. For one thing, we're having a good ole fashioned winter, and while our snow totals aren't breaking any records, they are certainly keeping him busy plowing and shoveling roofs. Consequently, we are now into our 6th batch of Glogg, which IS a record breaker.

When he's not out plowing or shoveling, he has been in the house finishing up those little projects which can go unfinished and largely unnoticed for decades. He has painted and installed baseboard in the linen closet, repainted the laundry closet, and upgraded the cabinets.

And the pie'ce de re'sistance, he has finally hooked up the dish washer! We bought the dishwasher and put it in it's spot when we did the kitchen back in 2005. But it's never been hooked up. About 2 years ago I began using it as a storage cupboard for candy and light bulbs. Then last fall I began hinting the space might be more efficiently utilized if we just threw the darn thing out and put in drawers.

This week, Tim suddenly decided to hook it up. All went smoothly (too smoothly) at first. But when he turned the water on to it, the thing began to fill. For no reason at all. And it continued to fill. He ran it through a cycle, but it did not drain. Well, maybe it drained, but it also continued to fill. Until it reached a critical level, and then it began to drain. Out the door. And across the floor. And under the cabinets. And into the basement... you get the picture. No good dead goes unpunished.

So he turned the water back off, mopped up, and priced a new valve, because obviously this one was either defective or had found some way to malfunction in the past ohhhh.... 5 and a half years of inactivity. The next morning, just for giggles, before he headed to Sears for a part, he turned the water back on. And lo and behold, in the night, the dishwasher had awakened from it's slumber, found it's special purpose, and decided to work. No flood. Needless to say, this has made him more uneasy than he was before. He will not leave the house with the water to the dishwasher on.

While it will be nice for me to have a dishwasher, it really won't make much difference to me, since Tim does 99% of the dishes anyway, and I always make it a point to use as many pots and pans and utensils as I possibly can, when I prepare dinner, so that he will feel wanted and appreciated. What really excites me is the prospect of getting the end panel installed so I no longer have to look at the inner workings and insulation of the dishwasher every time I come into the kitchen.

But of course, we've been doing some garden preparation as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed trading seeds with some of our readership. I've met some very nice people, saved money on my seed orders, and gotten some rare and unique varieties I would never have thought to order, would not have been able to find. I'll be highlighting some of those between now and seed starting time in April.

Also, the neighborhood onion order has been placed with Dixondale Farms. What I like about these people, is that they categorise their onions by "length of day" growing conditions so you can choose from varieties that will do well in your area. They also give detailed information about storage times so you don't end up with all onions that will go bad in a month. Bob and Trish are in charge of onion recommendations, and they certainly have steered us well in that regard. I ordered the Long Day Sampler, and Shelly next door ordered two other long day varieties so we will have a total of 5 varieties growing in the garden to share. Now that's co-op gardening at it's finest.

Dumb Question

Why would anyone want a throw pillow with the picture of a Japanese Beetle on it gracing the couch in their sunroom reminding them of Spring on the way?

I suppose they are more attractive than June Bugs.

Link to Catalog Page

Happy New Year

In the Bleak MidWinter

We have had over 5 feet of snow in December. At first it highlighted the raised beds nicely, and then erased them completely.

The garden shed remains snug and tidy, like a little gingerbread cottage.

And the snow continues to fall...

On Christmas Eve, the U.S. Mail brought a huge bundle of colorful seed catalogs. Usually we don't see them until after New Years Day. A fellow gardener, whose wife is a Postmaster, tells of her holding out on him as his seed catalogs sit in the back of her post office with their date stamp taunting him. Few things bring more joy and light to a gardener's winter home than those vibrant wish books.


As usual, I get a notepad and start jotting down ideas. Then I compare my wish list to my more practical shopping list written in August. Of course you have to allow yourself one or two impractical experiments each year. This year mine will be Blue Podded Peas.






Actually, this is sort of a practical experiment since you already know my views of being able to distinguish pickable parts from non-pickable parts. And the peas will fit nicely into my spring planting. Since the garden was under construction last spring, we missed out on all those early vegetables: Onions, Carrots, Peas, Lettuce, Chard etc. So that will be my focus this year.
I can not tell you how much I look forward to the start of gardening season. There will be no rototilling. No waiting for the mud to subside. No fence to put up. No rows to measure and mark. All I will have to do is stroll down the sidewalk, kneel beside my tidy little beds, already high and dry and prepared for planting, and poke the seeds in. Then I'll probably add a layer of fresh compost and voila'... instant garden!
I have already broken my list down by seed company. First I go for the specific varieties and harder to find items. Then I compare prices on similar items. Finally I fill up the gaps with the common things rounding out each order to make the most of shipping rates. You also have to watch for coupons. I am always suckered into Gurney's $25 offer. .... finally, you have to take into account the seed swap.
On my last post, Julie asked where she would find just a few seeds of sweet corn instead of half a pound. Well, some seeds keep quite well for a couple of years. Others are great for swapping and sharing with friends. For instance, in our neighborhood, Bob and Trish do the onion order. Shelly and I let Bob know what we want, and relinquish some control to his wisdom as Bob and Trish are far more experienced with Onions at this point. I've had great luck with the onion plants they have gotten me. I generally have extra of several kinds of seeds, and am happy to distribute my excess to anyone interested. If you still don't want a larger quantity of seeds, your best bet is to buy them off the seed displays at Garden stores and Big Box stores as those are packaged in much smaller quantities. I often pick some up when they are discounted to try varieties I would not have thought to order.
And some seed swapping is much more far reaching than the neighbors. Several people have expressed interest in planting my PaPaw's Barlow Jap tomatoes. I am still quite tickled to send out a dozen for free whenever anyone asks. And, as good seed trading etiquette dictates, they always reciprocate with a list of varieties they have to trade should I be interested. That's where my Blue Podded Peas are coming from!
I've been keeping an eye out on the gardening forums to see where the Barlow Jap has migrated through swapping and reswapping. So far, they have been grown in OH, PA, AL, NC and KY. Last week I sent some to TX and TN. And they have also jumped the pond and have been grown in Germany and South Africa. Now PaPaw would really get a kick out of that!