Asparagus adventures

Three years ago, fulfilling a long-time hankering, I planted ten asparagus plants. It was a serendipitous trade with a friend for all the rhubarb she could eat that first summer.

I felt adventurous. Not many people grow asparagus and it was a bit of mystery to me. I did my usual in-depth Google session and instructed Jeff as he dug the trenches. 

I was very diligent about not picking too much for the first two years as the plants established themselves. This year, anything that pokes above ground before the middle of June is fair game.

Jeff raved about the perfectly cooked, green and tender shoots that were piled on his plate the first few times I served them.

Three weeks into the harvest, not so much.

Did I mention that I don't particularly care for asparagus?

But I sure do love messing around with it!

I discovered these a few days ago.

I left the ferns to winter over in the raised bed and, apparently, conditions were ideal for the sprouting of the seeds that nestled into those lovely red seed pods.

Being in a meddling mood yesterday, and also a sowing-of-seeds mood, I dug a bunch of them out of the ground and re-potted them in my milk-jug greenhouses.

Asparagus has interesting roots. They grow horizontally rather than vertically. Look closely at this tiny root and you can see the exact point at which it turns horizontal.

Isn't it adorable?

Not, like, grand-baby adorable, but cute in an asparagus-y kind of way.

There were more little ferny seedlings than I had the patience to dig, but I have about twenty of them in three milk jugs. We shall see how they fare.

I also planted some cosmos, marigold, and impatiens seeds in the remaining jugs, and carrots, parsnips, lettuce, radishes, New Zealand spinach, and cucumbers in the raised beds. And I re-potted the former residents of the milk jugs, tomato seedlings, into their own tiny pots.

Bring on summer, I say.

And if you want some asparagus plants in a few months, you know where they'll be.