That Time We Moved the Asparagus Bed

Last spring, we rebuilt half of the garden by taking out the old wooden raised beds and replacing them with metal ones. This spring, we replaced the other half. I'll be posting about that soon. Moving the tons of dirt from the old beds into the new ones was a lot of work, but the real chore, in my opinion, was digging out the asparagus bed. 

The "old" asparagus bed behind the Three Sisters bed.

Back in March, I tried to get the process started by digging up the asparagus while it was still dormant. At that time, I found that the ground was still frozen, so I couldn't do any digging. At least, that's what I thought. The ground certain still had some ice in it, but when I went back to try again after it had warmed up considerably, I still found it very hard to dig. 

Over the winter, I had researched how to relocate an asparagus bed. I read that it was a delicate process to remove the fragile roots and crowns and that I needed to be gentle with them. With that in mind, I carefully began the extraction. The gentle approach got me nowhere. I could barely get the tines of my garden fork into the earth. So, I got out a shovel and began to tentative probe the soil to loosen it around roots. When my husband found me jumping on the shovel like a pogo stick he suggested getting out an ax. I chuckled and allowed him to take over for a bit. Finally, he was able to remove an asparagus crown.

You've heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

One of the first things we planted in our brand-new garden some 10 years was the asparagus bed. I guess after that long, the tiny, delicate asparagus crowns had turned to hulking beasts. That would explain the difficulty digging and maybe why some of the asparagus spears last year were somewhat malformed. I assumed that had been insects but it might have been the result of intense overcrowding.

It ended up taking more than a month to fully remove all the asparagus from the old bed. I strained by back while working on it and my husband's attention was on moving soil to the new beds. By the time we had hauled all the bits of asparagus out of its 1-foot by 11-foot bed, I was, frankly, tired of it.

One of the newer 3'x6' beds temporarily held all the dug-up asparagus.

For a couple days, I considered just dumping the load at the back of our property and letting it fend for itself. But then I noticed the tiny green spears reaching out of the mass of twisted roots.

Life will find a way.

I couldn't just exile the asparagus when it was doing its best to keep going. So, I went to work digging a new, larger bed outside of the garden proper. The digging started out easily enough. Removing the first layer of turf was actually kind of fun. Then I got into the rocks. There were so many rocks. I have vowed that the next place we live will have soil free of rocks. By the time I get over the last move, however, and actually want to move again, I'll likely be too old to dig a hole anyway. 

That's going to have to be good enough.

After heaving the dug-up asparagus "crowns" over the garden fence rather than carrying them all the way out through the gate, I laid them into the hole. I probably should have used fewer of them or made a larger bed but I didn't have the heart or the energy to do either. 

Sorry, they're just going to have to figure it out.

I had to shake out the turf in order to recover enough soil to completely cover the asparagus in its new home but it all seemed to work out.

All done!

Now, almost a month later, the asparagus has put up new spears. There aren't a lot but it proves that at least some of them survived the violent, haphazard transplanting. 

Hey, maybe this will actually work!

You may notice in the photo that many of the spears appear to be broken off. They were bitten off, more likely. I didn't think that deer ate asparagus, but they do seem to like to sample nearly everything we try to grow around here. I've just decided to shrug and late nature take its course.

Was it only the fence keeping the deer from devastating our asparagus crop?

Let's Get This Party Started

Okay, so it was actually herbs that got started, not a party, but I'm just as happy. About a month ago, on March 16, I got out my starter trays, Jiffy pellets, and seed envelopes and got to work.

I like having a plan.

First off, I gave my starter trays a nice bleach bath. There's no reason to not begin with everything freshly disinfected.

We don't need any dormant funk messing things up.

I love the Jiffy peat pellets. Since I found them, I've used them exclusively to get my seedlings started. All you have to do is soak them in some warm water then slip them into the starter tray. Easy-peasy.

Jiffy pellets taking a swim.

While I feel like I can identify most herbs by sight now, it's always a good idea to record what seeds are planted where. In this case, I did two cells each for the herbs as well as eight for peppers and four additional for some wild native plant seeds. Then, the covered trays were placed lovingly under the grow light to enjoy fourteen hours of artificial sunlight each day thanks to the convenient timer.

Now do your duty!

Just four days later, the first dill seedlings emerged. 

Dill!

The dill was quickly followed by basil and asters the next day. Three days after that, the thyme, rosemary, lavender, catnip, and peppers emerged. The parsley was the final green sprout to show up on March 26.

Thyme, parsley, basil, rosemary, and catnip up front on April 13.

Lavender and dill on April 13.

As my little seedlings are enjoying the steady, calm weather inside the house, I'm making plans for their lives outside. I started my patio herb garden last summer with just two pots of herbs. Over the winter and spring, I've been collecting more pots.

Such pretty examples of international commerce.

Home Goods and T.J. Maxx have proven to be the best places to get reasonably-priced, pretty pots. I've added a lovely orange pot shaped like a tulip ($19.99, made in Vietnam), one with a painted floral design ($14.99, made in Spain), one with a raised feather pattern (14.99, made in Vietnam), a simple pale blue one ($16.99, made in Spain) , and a white one with partridges and pears ($16.99, made in China) to my collection. 

I think my basil will be in this pot.

We've still got a least a month before the seedlings end out all together outside on the patio. For now, the chives are on their own out in the world. Well, they're not entirely alone. They have the daffodils for company.

The chives seem happy enough with their yellow friends.

And the occasional rabbit comes by for a visit now and then.

I wonder if this is one of last years' munchkins?

False Spring

Over the past few weeks, warm weather has descended upon us. Rejoice, the sunshine and warm temperatures cheer. Spring is here! But, no, it's not. Not really. This is False Spring. Now, I know that meteorological spring begins in just under a week, but as a life-long New Yorker, I know that there's still at least one more shot of winter on the way. I joke that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb - white and fluffy. We've had major snow storms well into April. The week before our wedding at the end of May (some 20+ years ago), there was snow in the middle of the state. Perhaps global climate change is finally making spring arrive earlier, but I'm still skeptical. (Not of climate change! That's absolutely a thing. I'm skeptical that spring is really hear.)

Our backyard on March 16, 2017

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not already dreaming about Real Spring. I've purchased my seeds for this year's garden and have graphed out a plan. We're trying some new tomato seeds from Burpee this year that don't need to be started indoors. They are supposed to be directly sown in the garden. I look forward to seeing how they actually work. I will be starting some other seeds - peppers and herbs - probably in the next week or so.

Reviewing last year's garden plan and sorting seeds on hand.

The new raised beds are in the garage waiting to be built and placed in our garden as we finish the rebuild that we started last spring. We've still got four old wooden beds to remove. They currently contain the asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, and chives. They'll all need to be moved and, today, I decided to start that process. I began with the chives. I noticed a week or so ago that they were starting to emerge.

Hello, you spicy little darlings.

Back in August, I decided that I was going to create a container herb garden. Over the winter I've collected a couple more flowerpots to use, but I didn't have one yet that I liked for the chives. So, this morning we went out to Lowe's and I found a lovely terracotta pot. It's labeled an azalea pot, but I think it looks just right for my chives. I hauled the pot and potting soil and implements of destruction out into the garden and went to work.

Rather than carry the chives all the way to the house...

A wonderful large lump of chives.

The chives would have completely filled the terracotta pot, so I split them into three pieces. One piece went into the pot while the other two got relocated outside the fence. You can never have too many chives. Then I gave them all a nice long drink of water. Since the chives were happily living outside before I pulled them from the garden, I figured they could stay outside. I do worry about another round of winter weather coming in, though. The chives would not be as well protected from the cold in the pot as they were in the cozy garden bed. So, I tucked them in next to the daffodils beside the house. The heat reflected from the house always get the bulbs going in this flower bed first, so I figured it would be a good temporary spot for the chives.

Stay warm little ones!

I was having such a nice time working in the garden, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to dig up the asparagus bed. I did a little reading about the best time to transplant asparagus, and this seemed like the right time. It was warned that moving a mature bed would take time and patience, so I was ready for a long haul project. 

Moving time!

I started by raking away the leaves we had placed as mulch. As I did, I noticed a strange shininess near the center of the bed. It was ice.

Why did it take my brain so long to figure out what this was?

With a great feeling of disappointment, I realized that the ground was still frozen. There was no way that I was going to be digging out any asparagus crowns today. I did try, but was quickly defeated. Oh well. The forecast has continued warm temperatures for the next week. Maybe the ground will thaw before it snows again. Or maybe it won't snow at all. The birds think it's spring - I watched a crow collecting nesting material and heard a cardinal singing his heart out. And some of the plants away from the heat of the house are beginning to come back to life. Maybe I'm just a pessimist when it comes to weather, and spring really is here. I guess time will tell. 

One of 70 bulbs I planted last fall.

Here comes a daylily!

Cardinal was singing but hiding in the yew. (auto focus fail)

zzzzzzz

PS: It did snow again on March 26. It wasn't much and it all melted immediately, but I'm pleased my prediction of another storm came true. 

A duck couple visited the parking lot at my job during the storm.

The 10 1/2 Hour Sweater

I needed a project. I was spending too much time in the evenings reading nonsense on my phone or watching nonsense on tv. It's been years since I knit a sweater, for myself or anyone else. I used to do a lot of knitting. I just sort of stopped. So, I decided it was time to knit a sweater for myself. I wanted something big and cozy and cheerful; something I couldn't just buy at the store or order online. 

I scrolled through Ravelry and wasn't inspired and then remembered that Lion Brand Yarn had free patterns. I found a pattern for a pullover with a simple cable twist on the front that seemed like a fun, quick knit. It called for super bulky yarn and used size 15(!) needles. (As a brief aside, I learned to knit on size 10 needles and they seemed huge to me then. Size 15s border on ridiculous in my mind.) The pattern called for Lion Brand's Homespun yarn, but I chose to use their Wool Ease Thick and Quick (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in a beautiful variegated color palette called Astroland. I did some comparison shopping and ended up ordering six skeins from Michael's. Four days later, a box of yarn appeared on my front step.

A box of potential.

I started knitting right away. After doing a test block, and confirming that I'm a tight knitter, I chose my size and started at it. I finished the back of the sweater the first evening.

Knit, knit, knit.

The back took nearly two full skeins. Logically, the front would take a similar amount. That would leave two skeins - one for each sleeve. I began worrying about what would happen if the sleeves needed more yarn. I didn't want to run short. So, the next day, I went to our local Michael's store to buy one more skein. The original six skeins had to be ordered because, while our local store did have some in stock, it didn't have enough. When knitting with solid color yarn, one must consider lot number so the color is consistent. With the variegated yarn, I didn't think that would be as much of a concern. As it turned out, of the two skeins of Astroland available to purchase in person, one was the same lot number as the yarn I had ordered. Confident in having enough yarn, I spent the weekend knitting. By mid-afternoon three days after receiving my order, I had all the pieces of my sweater knitted. 

All the parts.

I hate sewing pieces together, so the back and the front and the sleeves sat for an additional day before blocked them then sewed them together. All told, it took me 10 hours and 31 minutes to make my sweater. (I actually ran the stopwatch on my phone while I was working on it so I  could see how long it would take.)  

All done and so cozy!

As it turned out, I didn't actually need that extra skein of yarn I bought while in a bit of a panic. I even had some of two other skeins left over.

The remains of the project.

The label on the yarn showed how many skeins were needed for certain things -  2 for a scarf, 7 for a sweater (even though I only used 6), and 1 for a hat. So, I made a hat. I didn't time this one but I finished it in an afternoon. The claim that one skein made a hat was strikingly accurate. When I was finished, I only had about 6 feet of yarn left.

One skein, you say?

Yup, one skein!

And, because I had a little more of the sweater yarn left over, I added a big pompom to the top.

Cute and super warm too.

My new sweater was a great, quick knitting project and the bonus hat was a lot of fun too. The only problem is that now I want to knit something else! 

Trying Something Wild

Last fall, I looked into the getting some native wild plants for our yards. When I was out shopping for mums, I heard something about getting asters instead. Asters are native plants, perennials, and great for pollinators in the fall. I did a little research at that time trying to find where to buy asters but ended up just getting a pot of mums for my porch decor. 

Some naturalized plants at my former home.

In the new year, I decided it was time to look into native plants again. The New York State DEC has a nice guide to native plants. (check it out here) With that as a starting place, I began searching the interwebs for sources of seeds. I eventually came across the website of the Wild Seed Project in Maine. I like the organization's mission to equip "community members with the resources they need to collectively restore native plants that expand wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and build climate resilience" and they had seeds for five of the plants I was looking for in their shop - smooth blue aster, blue lobelia, blue iris, foxglove beardtongue, and flowering raspberry. At $5 each, I was happy to make my purchase and add a small donation.

The seeds arrived quickly, which was good because a few of them need to be outside for the winter in order to germinate. I finally had time today to get the seeds planted. I'm a bit on the late side, but we'll see what we get. The seed packets came with good instructions for planting and it took me very little time to get them all set.

Seeds on the soil just waiting for the sand on top.

My biggest concern is the mob of squirrels that live in our neighborhood. These little pots with their precious seeds need to be outside, exposed to the weather. That means the dirty little tree rats will be all over them. I'm not just guessing. I know this for a fact. My husband put out a few pots of pawpaw seeds to overwinter and the squirrels have relentlessly harassed them.

Poor pawpaws. I'm not even sure if the seeds are still in there.

The instructions suggested a piece of window screen be placed over the pots to prevent molestation, but I had another idea. We have a couple humane animal traps that aren't being used at the moment. I figure if they could keep squirrels, woodchucks, and a sad little skunk we weren't even trying to trap inside once the door slammed shut, they would, likewise, keep the creatures out. So, I placed the newly-potted seeds inside the traps and then set them outside - one in the shade and one in the sun, as needed. And I even had enough space to add the pawpaw pots as well.

The big trap in the shade.

The little trap in the sun (if it ever comes out)

And now we wait. Patience will definitely be a virtue as wild plant seeds take more time to germinate than commercially-bred flower and vegetable seeds. I did set aside a few of the aster and flowering raspberry seeds. They don't need to be exposed to the winter in order to germinate so I thought I'd try them under the grow lights when I get my herbs started. I bought another pot for my herb collection today - it's beautifully orange - and I'm dreaming of spring.

Nothing is safe!