Friday 25 July 2008

Asparagus mon amour



These narrow fellows are my asparagus plant seedlings. The seeds were planted about three months ago, and it will be at least another eighteen months of careful nurturing, and a planting out in a permanent garden bed of their own, and some rather scary-sounding cutting back, before we see any edible asparagus off them. The very idea of keeping tender plants like this alive and growing for two years before they become productive is a bit overwhelming. They're all right now but it's so very easy for young plants to suddenly die in the blasting hot part of summer if you fail to keep up their maintenance for a day or two.

The seeds were an unplanned impulse buy based almost entirely on the fact that the variety is called "Fat Bastard." You know what I'll say on the day I finally see spears making their way up from the underground, don't you. I've got twenty-five plants here. I wonder how many will make it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just noticed the white kitty in the top photo, pretending nonchalantly to be another watering-can.

lucy tartan said...

He's a dag.

Unknown said...

Oooh eeer that's impressive. I can't keep anything alive (I even killed mint!) so I salute your green thumbedness.

lucy tartan said...

Well Kate, I think Mint is hard. Everyone says it grows like a weed, but we've had lots of plants and they've all been eaten or shrivelled up or something, sooner or later.

Zoe said...

Our mint is a weed, and one lonely asparagus survivling here, from four crowns.

Do you think it's a mark of the current Obesity Crisis that Alexei Sayle seems so slender in that video? Or is it just me?

lucy tartan said...

I noticed his unimpressive attempt at fatness too Zoe.

Alexis, Baron von Harlot said...

Yeah, fat schmat.

But sparrow grass! Mazel tov!

Ann ODyne said...

Fannie Farmer's 1918 cookbook tells how to make Sweetbread Cutlets with asparagus, and maybe she had read 'Emma' ...
"The baked apples and biscuits, excellent in their way, you know; but there was a delicate fricassee of sweetbread and some asparagus brought in at first, and good Mr. Woodhouse, not thinking the asparagus quite boiled enough, sent it all out again. Now there is nothing grandmama loves better than sweetbread and asparagus-- so she was rather disappointed, but we agreed we would not speak of it to any body, for fear of its getting round to dear Miss Woodhouse, who would be so very much concerned!--"

I do hope your asparagus thrives to become a partner to sweetbreads.

Anonymous said...

The Alice Springs library is presenting a Jane Austen movie marathon as its main seniors month event.

How the mighty have fallen!