Today's Harvest

 

Asparagus!   I've been impatiently waiting for the asparagus, and finally they have arrived in the garden.  Just a couple so far, but now that they know the weather is fine above the soil, I will be harvesting daily.  I love asparagus season.  If I could only grow one thing, I would chose asparagus.  It comes back every year so you only have to plant it once.  The only hard part about asparagus is being patient. 

Here are a few little tips poking up from the soil to have a look around.  They go from these little nubs to a harvest size stalk in only a day, so I have to be vigilant or they get big before I can get them.

The garlic which was planted last fall is already six or eight inches tall.  Half of the cloves I planted were from garlic I saved from last years harvest.  I can tell which are the saved garlic because the plants are smaller, but darker green.  I don't know if this means it's weaker than the bulbs I bought for planting, or if it's just a different kind.  I'll have to do a comparison when they are finished.  

 These little guys are lettuce seedlings.  I always promise myself that I will label the garden as I plant and every year I break my promise.  So, I'm confident this is lettuce, but I don't remember which kind.  Good thing I like surprises. I even found some peas coming up in a neat little row in a bed that I thought was empty.  I must have been planting things in my sleep!

The cabbage plants that mom shared with me are finally in the ground.  I probably should have planted them weeks ago, but hopefully it won't get too hot before they are finished.  It's nice to have something green to admire when I force people to look at my garden.  No one seems that impressed when I have to tell them to squat down and look at an angle so they can see what I'm so excited about.  I try to understand that some people just don't get excited about a vegetable no matter how big it is, but it's hard for me to remember.   I guess that's why I'm blathering about them now!

This little guy is a hop bine, returning after a long winter nap.  These were newly planted last spring, and we only got enough hops for one batch of beer last summer.  I'm hoping the four plants I have will be more vigorous now that they are established and we will get more hop cones this year.  

Seeds are beginning to sprout in the green house too.  Even some of the little newspaper pots that froze solid soon after I put the seeds in are sending up tomato babies.