Been Enjoying Asparagus for about a good month now. Planted the root about 7-12 yrs ago and it comes up early spring every year. In the fall I put about a foot of chopped up leaves on top to keep the winters snow damage to a minimum and it helps in the Spring as they pop up through the leaves. Here in Northern Ohio we're in zone 6 but not far from the bottom of zone 5 which I found to be important information if your into Gardening in this Area. Memorial Day is our Rule of thumb for planting in our area as we did have a heavy frost last week and the asparagus doesn't seem to mind it as it's hardy enough to withstand it. My neighbor started a bunch of plants indoors over the winter a couple months ago as did my wife and we get together and share with each other and make it a fun time! So he came over yesterday with his four wheeler and his flat bed bed snowmobile trailer with a mix of composted soil and sand ans some home made topsoil from the woods as we live in what's categorized as "Country Living" yet close to two major cities in Ohio between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio as we have enjoyed this place for well over the past 40 years finding some acreage and building our own place the way we liked it and I mean pounding almost every nail ourselves! Getting close to retirement with a year left to go and always enjoying the time spent outdoors I do feel myself slowing down. I put some heavy black plastic down in the garden about a month ago as the weeds we're starting to get out of control and yesterday started to plant on the already made hilly rows from the past several years. The soil is ready to go as last fall I did add some more leaf compost to the soil and mix it in. Been doing it this way for the past several years and it really produces some nice produce. The old Farmer around the Corner taught me years ago to lay the tomato plants sideways in the planting hole and cover with fresh soil gently bending the plant upwards slightly and covering with fresh planting soil. I mix some fresh compost, sand, Epsom salts, and food grade,(Harris),Diatomaceous Earth,(crawling bugs hate this), and this is what I use as my planting soil and it really works well as I try to keep it as all natural as I can. In the past we've had 8-9 foot tall tomato plants with a ton of fruit on each plant and always trimming as much as possible to keep from getting too tall as this really isn't the goal. Watering with the home made watering sprinkler hose about a foot under the plants helps during the hot summers. The soil is dark and rich as even my friend always notices as I only disturb a small cut in the plastic to make a planting hole in the coffee ground like soil.The leaf compost from the woods works wonders with all the right natural ingredients. As I get older the weeds kick me and my Wife's butt so I'm always trying to improve and slowly downsize our surroundings including the Garden. Gonna head out and possibly finish planting or at least get close to the end of it planted. HS 58
I Learned a long time ago to Separate My Want's from My Needs!
