The Asparagus Has Risen!

FINALLY - I have asparagus!

And also an asparagus bed that needs to be cleaned.

There are 10 plants in total and 8 of them have spears coming up. The other two I am still holding out hope for. I really should have made a bigger bed with more plants because I can only harvest 6-8 spears at a time and really, that is barely a side dish for one! Not that I really have room for a bigger bed, but it is always nice to dream : )

Well Hello Sun!

Thankfully the rain has stopped - finally. After four days of non-stop rain and flooding we finally had a picture perfect spring day! I was able to get a lot of yard work done - raking up left over leaves, clearing out the asparagus bed, and cutting back all the dead growth from all of the perennials. The asparagus is actually coming up now. I pulled off the salt marsh hay from one of the rows two weeks ago and just pulled off the other row today and found some very sun deprived white stalks growing! I put down some of the asparagus food as well as some slug deterrent - just to be safe. I did go slug hunting with my trusty soapy water bin and found only 6 itsy bitsy babies - but better to get them now then when they are huge and eating everything in sight!
My mom helped me with the raspberry trellis today too. I didn't want to have the unsightly wooden posts so I used some green poles rescued from the victory garden last year and some donated galvanized wire from my neighbor, and fellow gardener, Tom. I love free!!! It isn't perfect but I think it will work to keep that crazy bush under control.
The daffodils are finally starting to bloom. I don't know why ours are so late. Everyone else has had blooms for over a week but ours are just starting to show their pretty faces. Well, at least the ones along side the driveway. The ones out along the front fence look like they are starting to get blooms which is a huge step in the right direction seeing as last year they were to shy to bloom.
The hostas are are all starting to peek out as well. I spread some diatomaceous earth around them to keep the god awful slugs from having afield day. It really pisses me off that birds allegedly eat slugs yet I have more slugs eating away in my garden than I can count. I have bird feeders, bird baths, and perches all over the yard - I guess these city birds are just too lazy to go looking for the meaty slug when they can get the seed for free!

Finally - Spring has arrived!

Well, not officially according to the calendar, but weather-wise, woo-hoo!! After the torrential rains over the weekend (which I thankfully missed having been on vacation) the sky is cloudless, the temperature in the 60’s and the crocuses in bloom. The jonquils, daffodils and tulips have all broken the soil and are peeking up getting ready to spread even more spring cheer. I cannot wait to get out this weekend and get my hands dirty. It has been far too long!! I have some serious yard clean up duties to conquer. There are the straggler leaves that have been around since fall, the broken limbs and twigs from this past storm, old growth to be cut back and the cover crops to be tilled. I also need to get the corn gluten down and the salt marsh hay off the asparagus beds. Home Depot is also on the menu for supplies to finish my raspberry bush support as well as some wood to build a squash trellis. The greenhouse needs to dusted off and brought up from the basement so I can get some of my seeds started and last but not least the Easter decoration need to get put out/up. All this and I really only have Sunday to get it done. My sisters and I are throwing my mom a surprise retirement party on Saturday, so that whole day is a bust. Whew – I’m getting tired just thinking about it.