Seeds want to grow. It is what they do. Winter's settled well onto Maine now, ponds starting to ice over, snow on the ground. So it's a good time to plant some seeds, and remember about wanting to grow.
Usually, gardeners start asparagus from 'crowns.' These are root systems from one-year old plants. If you start from seed, it will take two years to get any asparagus from the plants. So starting from crowns saves a year of tending plants that are producing no food. But we won't even be transplanting ourselves, from Maine to our land in Canton, North Carolina, for several more months. Here we are, watching temperatures drop and wild turkeys forage. There's our land, sun passing overhead, daily. We have time to fill, time to bridge, from now until then. Getting plants onto our land makes a good bridge.
Seeds want to grow. We want a bridge. Let's get together and feel alright. When we drive to Canton again next March, we'll pack in over 1000 asparagus seedlings. We'll leave them behind settled in Carolina clay, and they can record the sun's northward progress into midsummer, when they'll welcome us home for good.
Usually, gardeners start asparagus from 'crowns.' These are root systems from one-year old plants. If you start from seed, it will take two years to get any asparagus from the plants. So starting from crowns saves a year of tending plants that are producing no food. But we won't even be transplanting ourselves, from Maine to our land in Canton, North Carolina, for several more months. Here we are, watching temperatures drop and wild turkeys forage. There's our land, sun passing overhead, daily. We have time to fill, time to bridge, from now until then. Getting plants onto our land makes a good bridge.
Seeds want to grow. We want a bridge. Let's get together and feel alright. When we drive to Canton again next March, we'll pack in over 1000 asparagus seedlings. We'll leave them behind settled in Carolina clay, and they can record the sun's northward progress into midsummer, when they'll welcome us home for good.
