Just came back from the early spring garden. I’ve got cabbage (including red), 2 types of broccoli, and onions set out. It’s so windy. I wanted to plant beets and radishes today, but it’s blowing 30mph out there. I’m also going to start an asparagus patch (hopefully tomorrow). I have about 50 crowns of Mary Washington and Jersey Giant to put out. When I was very young (kindergarten) growing up in Wisconsin we always had lots of asparagus, and I’d run through the ferns with a stick busting it all to pieces. Great fun. Can’t wait to do that again with my own plot (not!). I wasn’t sure about asparagus in NC, so I visited the farmer down Cecil Road across from my house. His name is Cecil Jones, and the road is named after him. He’s 87 years old. He said asparagus grows great down here, and cited several folks he knew that had plots set out. He doesn’t have any of his own, however, and that makes me suspicious. He grows everything, including catfish. Why not asparagus? My wife and I help him out and his wife, Virginia, because they’re too old to shift for themselves completely, though they do a pretty good job. I hope I’m half as spry at their age.
Other than that, this weekend I’ll be starting seeds in my 72-plot Burpee Seed Starting Green House kits, with the water-expandable peat pills. Mostly tomatoes, peppers, and various herbs, including two types of dill, for pickling. It’s too early to start squash and cucumbers indoors, in my opinion. I’ll wait another couple/three weeks to start those inside, although I’ve had very good success just direct planting the seeds in the garden after April 15th.
I usually do 7 or 8 rows of Pontiac red potatoes, but not this year. I’m going to do a potato box that somebody on this forum posted about a few weeks ago, which is basically a 2’ by 2’ box, 3 feet high. I’ve bought the lumber but haven’t screwed it together yet. Plus I’ll still do at least one row, but I won’t be digging it up. I’ll plant over it later in field peas around May/June. I’ve found that potatoes do pretty well stored in the ground, and I’ll just let them set there until I need some, then I’ll dig them up. Ditto with the potato box. When you need potatoes, you just remove one of the boards at the base of the box, and reach in and grab out what you need, then screw the board back in place.
If I can figure out how to do it, I’ll post some pics.
P/
Thanks so much for the awesome update! I would so love to have an asparagus patch, but just haven’t done it yet. Please keep us updated on that ... if you need help posting photos, I’ll walk you through it.