Saturday, April 18, 2009

Investing in Asparagus

We made lots of progress around the farm today. We got the front gate installed (we had dismantled it to widen the driveway for the Brego-size trailer). I added a few more tons of stone dust to some low spots in the sacrifice paddock. I moved several mounds of dirt around, consolidating them into a single mound. I planted some seedlings into the outdoor garden: broccoli, brussels sprouts, spinach and kale.

But the most exciting thing is that we started our asparagus patch! Last week in the mail, I received 30 crowns of Certified Organic Jersey Giant F1 90% male asparagus. Yep, that's the good stuff. These crowns must have been hand-picked by virgins and rinsed in unicorn tears because they cost a mint.

But no matter, I finally had my crowns so we excavated the asparagus patch. It's in a primo spot, very well drained, good sun, near the greenhouse, tastefully decorated with country kitsch signs.

I am very excited to be eating asparagus... two years from now. It feels like such a real commitment, a real investment, to put asparagus in. It's possible the asparagus will outlive my time on this particular farm. It will surely outlive my shoddily constructed greenhouse. :)


The Patch



Crowns in the furrow



Chickenistas inspect the work


3 comments:

Sylvia said...

you work too much. ;)

i love asparagus!

Funder said...

Asparagus is the most beautiful sign of spring. I never knew what crowns of it looked like, and I'd always wondered. My parents have a huge untended bed of it that's almost as old as I am, and I've never had a place to plant a garden of my own.

Sarah Henderson, BCCDC said...

I cuss
You cuss
We all cuss
For asparagus