Is Asparagus Supposed To Do This?

Here is another one of my asparagus starts, peeking through the ground...I like the fact that it is just a petite version of what it will become. Here are a couple of the other starts that are further along...I am a bit confused though, is asparagus supposed to turn into a bushy looking plant? I read somewhere that you plant them in trenches so that as the tips appear you can keep adding soil - never completely covering the plant, but keeping soil right up to it's "neck". Well, I was away for a few days recently and it was during a heat wave while I was gone that these plants took off...I wasn't there to keep pushing dirt over them. Did I end up making a mistake? I haven't been able to find an answer yet, so I am continuing to add dirt and hoping for the best.

Really though, I already knew that I wasn't going to be able to pick and eat any of the asparagus this year anyway, they are supposed to be given a year to establish roots before they are picked, so there is still a year to wait and see what comes of these plants.

That's how gardening is sometimes, lots of questions that require patience to get answers to. I do wish frequently that I had a near-by garden mentor to ask these questions. Poking around online doesn't always do it for me, I like asking real people questions and hearing their answers in person...doesn't everyone prefer that?

UPDATE

Before I explain the update, I have a confession to make. I have been feeling beyond overly stressed lately as my job is coming to a close. Not wanting to neglect this blog - it is a great source of joy for me right now - I "power blogged" last weekend, basically came up with several blogs that I could publish later. This is one of them. Now, after the fact, I am realizing that although it seemed like an excellent idea, and in many ways it still is, there is a flaw in my little system.

Here's the flaw, when I wrote this post, I was genuinely having questions about the asparagus in my garden. Since writing this post I have been doing some reading. Specifically, I have been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. By the way, I am only a few chapters in, and I absolutely am loving the book! But back to what I was explaining, Kingsolver wrote an entire chapter on her lifetime of experience with asparagus. I was fascinated by this chapter, I even read it out loud to the husband before we went to sleep a few nights ago. I highly recommend the book - not just for the asparagus information - it is a great account of her family's year of eating locally. To misquote a famously cheesy movie "She had me at asparagus", though in reality she probably had me earlier than that. I may even have to do an actual review of the book sometime this summer when I've finally finished it.

So all of that brings me to my final point...my asparagus is behaving in a very normal, typical, "asparagus-like" fashion. I don't need to worry, simply watering and continuing to fill in the trench as the plants grow is all I need to do this year. There is an art to picking asparagus and knowing when to stop, but it seems I don't need to worry about that yet. Kingsolver says to wait until the thrird season before picking asparagus, I've heard the second before, I'm not sure what is right. I'm thinking I'll wait until next year and decide then.

I'm now done rambling about asparagus, have a lovely day!

Cilantro = Corriander

I have learned so much in the last year or so as I've taken on the challenge of being a new gardener. One of my favorite new pieces of knowledge is that cilantro and corriander come from the same plant. Cilantro is the leaves of the plant, corriander is the seeds that develop when the plant flowers. I have at least five cilantro plants in my herb garden this year, there is one that I am specifically allowing to flower so that I can have fresh corriander. It is impossible to find fresh corriander anywhere as far as I know. So I take great pride in the fact that I am growing something that it would be impossible for me to get another way. That is part of the magic of having your own garden, you end up learning so much and you have access to a whole new world of food you'd never get otherwise. In the next few weeks I am going to try to find a few recipes that specifically call for corriander, just so I can feature it in my cooking...anyone have any ideas?

The Leader of the Pack!

This little hen with a piece of spinach in her beak, is Berkeley (sorry it's not a very good picture, have you ever tried photographing chickens?! They are quick!) She is the queen of the coop. Always the first to eat anything, squacks constantly at the other gals, she runs out first when I open up the door to let them free-range, and she roams the farthest. She seems to take pleasure in being bossy, even when the other hens protest, Berkeley still gets her way. Everyone seems to understand that Berkeley has a strong will and she will have her way. The pecking order in my flock is probably still being established somewhat, but I think the #1 position has been filled by Berkeley for some time now.

Wanted: A Good Mojito

The mint in the herb bed of my garden is doing very well. I've read in a few places that if not watched carefully, mint can easily take over. I like mint, it's delicious, but I also like the other herbs too, so I've been trying to keep up with it's growth by using it in mojitos. I browsed a bit on the internet for mojito recipes, but so far I haven't found anything amazing. I've been using San Pellgrino, Bacardi Coconut Rum, fresh squeezed lime juice, cane sugar, strawberries and the mint of course. It's not that the mojitos I'm making aren't good, they just are not fabulous. The best mojito I've ever had was at The Lush Lounge in San Francisco a few years ago. I have a tendency to obsess over any meal or drink I've really liked but can't easily get...Please comment if you have any suggestions to for my dilema!

Coffee Sack Organizing

Here is the coffee sack loot I brought home the other day. I finally went through it this evening. Several of the bags still had raw coffee beans in them...had to shake those out. (Sorry about the blurry picture!) And here is my loot all nicely folded.

Now I just need to get busy sewing them!

Lemon Cake for Chickens and a Countdown!

So it feels as if summer is officially here. I'm trying not to get too set on the gorgeous weather, because "June Gloom" is a very real thing in Washington. It shows up in the form of cold and rain, as I found out last year! But everything in the garden is growing like crazy, including the chickens! Today I cleaned out our refrigerator a bit after a trip to the grocery store...out to the compost went some untouched leftovers, veggies gone bad, and half of a lemon cake. The husband and I had splurged on the cake about a week and a half ago at Trader Joe's. It was okay, but not as good as hoped. So today it went out with the rest of the cast offs from the 'fridge. I decided at the last second to give the cake to the chickens (actually I gave them a small piece at first, they went nuts so I gave them the rest). It turns out that they like lemon cake quite a bit, it was gone within an hour.

I am going to spend the upcoming weekend doing some sewing projects. Today I picked up a large load of jute coffee bags from a local coffee roaster. It really was quite a few bags - they filled a large trash bag. So combined with the bags I had before I now have enough to literally start making jute bag crafts like crazy...and that is the plan. The lady who helped me load up the bags at the coffee roaster asked what I was going to use them for. She suggested I bring in a couple of samples when I've got them to see if the manager would want to sell some of the products in the store. Kind of cool, I am going to do exactly that.

I also came up with some more ideas for onesie appliques...the picture below shows what I've been doing so far (the guitar applique isn't shown). Now I want to add a sea turtle, an angel fish, and an octupus to the mix - also things I am planning on working on this weekend.

I only have 10 more days until I am done completely at my job...I have been doing the job hunting routine a bit recently. Hopefully that will turn into something sooner rather than later. The stress of the unknown financially has been tough on both the husband and myself. Being freed of the obligation to show up at a job that is just simply hard for me will be nice. I know I can get through the final 10 days of work. In exactly two weeks I will be done, done, done. The count down is on (actually it has been on for a while now!)

Giveaway Day Winner!!

Want to guess what I've been doing? Well, without any delay, I want to announce that Jenny of Studio J is the winner of my Giveaway Day package! Jenny we'll be in touch so I can get your mailing information!

The blog has been both hoppin' and quiet this past week...quiet on my part and hoppin' with the comments of so many wonderful people. I figured I'd have a few people stop by, never did I imagine that there would be 195 comments! I'm still relatively new to the blogging world, so I guess in my mind my blog is still something that only I really read. I am honored to share my little corner of the world with a wonderful and creative community of "blog-landers". I have tried to visit as many of your blogs as I could -I've been impressed! I also really enjoyed reading all of the ideas people had about their own ideal kitchen garden. Gardening is an activity that for me feels like breathing. I look back at times when I couldn't garden because of space or timing issues and I remember how much I longed to be able to get dirt under my finger nails and grow something! There are so many others out there who have the same feeling!

I also had several people request recipes for the chutney (it is posted here), and also for my cinnamon rolls and french bread...ladies you've got it, I'd be happy to share those recipes - probably in the next week. The husband will be happy to hear that because that means that I'll have to make the recipes in order to have pictures (can't post a recipe without pictures!)

I have had a blast participating in Giveaway Day - I'll definately continue to participate in the future. Thank you to all who stopped by, please continue to do so!