asparagus day

the asparagus crowns came fed-ex yesterday and i didn't want to waste time so i planted them today. most growers reccomend raised beds for asparagus because they like to be well drained...but most places don't have the sandy soils we have in places around here, including the campus, so i think we can get away with planting them directly into the ground. i dug down about eighteen inches to the sand to start with, then i mixed in some compost and composted manure with the sand to loosen them up. then i put the asparagus crowns in ( i even got them the right way up) put in more compost and manure, because they are heavy feeders, and covered them with loose soil to a depth of two inches. this left the garden looking like giant moles had been at work with piles of soil everywhere. asparagus just isn't strong enough to push its way up through eight or ten inches of soil so we will have to backfill the holes as the sprouts grow. this will still leave some soil lying around that has been displaced by the compost and manure, but we will use it later to hill the potatoes as they grow. almost like we had a plan.

another bit of exciting news ( for me anyway) is that as i was digging holes for asparagus i turned up an earthworm! first one since i started cultivating the ground last october. so the half-ton of organic matter that i've put into the garden so far ( about five pounds per square foot of area ) seem to be helping. i have some red wrigglers coming to introduce into the garden, but they may have to share their new home with some natives.

the spinach and arugula are chugging right along. another jerusalem artichoke has popped up...that leaves only three of them unaccounted for. the winter savory is finally coming up too...i was concerned. still no onions, that is truly bothersome. i have seeds yet and may have to germinate and transplant some, but it's getting late. the tomato plants have four leaves now...two more and they can be repotted and kept under the growlight until late next month...pretty much on schedule with a couple of snags...nothing unusual in that...now if only the teosinte co-operates...more later.