Views from the holler.

Patience is a Virtue!

Being a gardener means you must exercise patience. When you plant that Narcissus bulb in the fall, it's daunting to think you must wait through an entire season of cold, rain and snow for it to make its appearance so that you can reap its visual benefits. When you plant that bareroot twig of an oak, you will have to wait an entire generation to see it in its full glory and even then, you won't be around to see it in its old age. Thus is the burden of a gardener. We must be patient and hold hope in the beauty to come or the beauty that is left for others to enjoy after we are long gone. 

The same is true for the asparagus patch we planted in the spring of 2009. I graciously accepted a few crowns from a friend who had run out of space in her garden (another plight of the hopeless gardener!). I had never tried asparagus in any of my previous planting adventures, so I was eager to give it a whirl. I too had run out of space in my 'deer proof' vegetable plot, so, I carved out an area near the herb garden. Following the advice of various books and online resources, I dug a trench and placed the crowns within it, about a foot from each other. I covered them with compost and soil and kept them moist, which, was not a difficult task given the vast amount of rain we had during the growing season. After several weeks of said 'patience', we finally had our first sprouts poking through.  As difficult as it was, we left those sprouts alone to leaf out. Asparagus is a beautiful and rich shade of green when allowed to leaf out. Its branches delicate and soft as a feather. So, although we couldn't eat it, we could still harvest some enjoyment from its form. We staked up the stalks for support so they could continue to send vital nutrients to the roots - a must for building a good patch. Then we waited... 

After another long, cold, snowy winter, we were thrilled to have spring back with us and even more joyful to see what had popped up from the crust of the freshly thawed earth!  

Although many sources say you must wait until the third year to harvest your first stalks, some do suggest this is old news and that year two is fine.  Although, 'Patience is a Virtue', we held to the latter advice and went for it. We harvested a moderate amount of stalks from the original four crowns and we were glad we did! What incredible, fresh taste coming straight from the plant - no cooking necessary, though, it is tasty pan seared with a bit of butter and garlic. We also had enough restraint to let some of the stalks leaf out again. Truth be told, we could have harvested a bit more since the crowns produced stalks for over a month, but the patch will be all the better for it in year three!