Asparagus!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" Asparagus! I harvested my first lunch sized crop yesterday. This morning, I had the joy of teaching Jesse, my ten year old grandson, how to harvest asparagus.

This is a treat one must plan for in advance. I planted several crowns in a 6 inch deep furrow with composted horse manure and good garden soils last spring. I could have increased my yield if I had applied 1 pound 0-46-0 (triple superphosphate) or 2 pounds of 0-20-0 (superphosphate), or 4 pounds of steamed bone meal per 50 feet of row.

If you plant some this spring, and now is the time, put the phosphate in the bottom of the furrow before planting. This will make phosphorus immediately available to the crowns. I had asparagus fern last year and did not harvest any, but am now enjoying the reward of planning ahead.

When the ground temperature reaches 50F, asparagus sends up shoots. Early in the season, 7 to 9 inch spears may be harvested every 2 to 4 days. As air temperatures increase, harvesting will increase to once or twice per day, harvesting 5 to 7 inch spears before the tips start to fern out and lose quality.

Just snap the spears off. There is no need to cut asparagus below the soil with a knife. In fact, this may injure other buds on the crown that will send up new spears. The small stub that is left in the soil after snapping ,dries up and disintegrates. New spears come from another bud on the crown not the old spot.

Research shows that you do not need to wait 2 years before harvesting newly planted asparagus. Actually, harvesting the first year several times throughout a three-week period, will stimulate more bud production on the crown and provide greater yields in future years.

Two years after planting, the harvest time increases to about 4 to 6 weeks, depending on air temperature. Stop harvesting when the diameter of 3/4 of the spears becomes small (less than 3/8 inch).

At your last harvest, snap all the spears off at ground level and apply 1/2 pound of ammonium nitrate fertilizer per 50 feet of row or sidedress with fish emulsion or similar material. Remove weeds. New spears emerge, fern out, and create a large canopy to cover the space between the rows which shades out weed growth.

Leave the tops on as long as they are green. This foliage makes the food reserves to store for next year's crop.

Morning is the best time to harvest. Immerse the spears in ice cold water to remove the heat and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator at 38-40 degrees F. Asparagus keeps for 1 to 2 weeks with little loss of quality.

So steam some asparagus; make a sandwich, sip a cup of coffee, and enjoy. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" From The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Forsythia & Lilac Pruning Tips

Spring has arrived in Indiana. My daffodils have started blooming and I have started ridding flower beds of winter debris and last year's dried stalks.

Some Proven Winners Show Off Forsythia will find a new home in my garden this spring, just as soon as the danger of freeze is gone. Yellow reinvigorates me after a long winter. If your forsythia is blooming, enjoy it for a few more days. If you plan to reduce the size of your forsythia by pruning, the right time is after it blooms. That gives the plant all summer to grow and create bud for next year. If you wait until the end of the season to prune, you will trim the new buds and you will have little or no bloom in the spring of 2010.

Remember, many woody flowering plants bloom on old wood. Another old wood bloomer I love is the lilac. The buds on my Miss Kim Lilac (a dwarf) are beginning to swell. I'm expecting beautiful blooms next month.

Again, trim lilacs after the bloom fades to ensure spring 2010 blooms!