In February of 2015 these tiny little seeds were seeded into trays and placed in a propagation house where every day we eagerly watched and peeked to see if any would delicately pop out from the soil and reach for the beautiful sun. After two and half weeks, we were ecstatic to discover the first few doing just that. With careful mist watering and nice warm humid temperature they took off
They were extremely fragile but they thrived and grew taller each day. Now came the job of transplanting them all into 4" containers and the pressure was on. ( I also was due with our 4th child in the beginning of April). But first we had to finish building our own greenhouse were they would spend the next 3 months while continuing to grow. (They were currently propagating in our father's greenhouse)
(I won't say how pregnant I was on this picture....:-)
Then, 2 days before having another beautiful son join our crazy crew, we got up super early and started the long tedious task of carefully pulling every very fragile plug of asparagus and transplanting it to give it more room to grow. We worked for 2 very long days, but those are the days that brings the best memories of family life, teaching our children so many lessons along the way.
Little Samuel joined our family on April 9, 2015
The next couple months we continued to eagerly watch them grow, each week pulling a plant out of a pot to inspect how the roots were growing, since asparagus needs such a strong root to survive its life span. Then in June we spent a whole entire day with many of our little nieces and nephews, transplanting them into the field.
After they were planted and the water was turned on, they took off once again, but joining them was the lovely never ending weeds as well, and so together we spent many hours this past summer weeding on our hands and knees while our kids happily played in the shade of the trees.
Throughout the summer they continued to grow and soon they were reaching our face, with soft ferns reaching in all directions.
Right now as you can see, they still are very skiny, but each year the roots will grow wider and deeper creating a thicker plant and thicker asparagus. That is why it is so very important to leave them alone as much as possible the first three years.
This past fall we cut everything off at the ground once the ferns turn yellowish. The roots were then covered in a thick layer of compost and mulch and are currently sleeping the winter away, and we are crossing our fingers they will wake up to nice warm soil this spring and eagerly reappear and once again reach for the sky.
This year we will be picking our whole field only once, and don't fret, we will let you know when that will happen!!!
Last year my hubby and I couldn't resist snapping a few off, and chewed on them while we worked. You will never find a more delicious tasting piece of asparagus that has been thought, cared and loved on every single day, that is picked fresh out of local organic soil!!!
Here's to many more asparagus years, as this crop will hopfully last us for the next 20+ years.
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