dirt in your eye

The Okanagan, but especially Armstrong, has a certain look to the sky in the spring that you just don’t see at any other time of year; it seems so immense and wide open. The towering clouds are high and fluffy and a beautiful combination of white and stormy grey. 

 This is the turf portion of our farm -Armstrong Turf Farm

You can just see a strip of dirt on the opposite side of the grass which is our existing asparagus field.

Last year we were harvesting 15 acres of mature high density plantings.

This year we are adding another 10 to 16 acres of crowns which will be available for a limited one week harvest next season.

There is a certain satisfaction in working outside at this time of the year. The thought of new shoots getting their first glimpse of sunlight. The feel of the soft cool soil, letting it trickle through your fingers, and the sunshine on your face with the wind ruffling your hair.

Of course my family doesn’t always have such a romantic thought process to the whole chain of events.  We try to take it all in stride, go with the flow and get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible (of course with a smile on our face...lol). 

There are some days when the wind howls, the rain pours, and it feels like ice has reached your bones.

  

But for now, we have had a week of incredible weather for our planting. A little wind, a bit of dirt in the eye, but overall a great week!

 





Here are some of the crowns we are planting, that's a sharpie pen for size relation, these are nice sturdy root systems

If you are planning on planting some of these delicious spring perennials in your garden you can't go wrong.  It's quite easy to do, and are available at most garden centres.  Some of the best are the Jersey varieties, these are juicy and tender and produce more than the older varieties.

• Make a trench in well drained soil (asparagus doesn't like wet toes or heavy clay soils) in a sunny location about 10" deep and 12" wide and amend with compost if you have it. 
• If you are going organic, you can put some bone meal in, or otherwise a fertilizer with a high phosphorous content (middle Number). Make sure that you have a low nitrogen content or the fertilizer may burn the crowns.
• Place the crowns in the bottom about 12" apart and cover with about 3" of soil, you don't want to cover the crowns with any more soil than this, as you will be filling them in gradually as the new shoots grow throughout the year.  The trenches should be filled to the top by the end of the year.
• Fertilize a couple of times a year with a high phosphorous fertilizer and water every once in a while. 

 It might seem to take a long time to reap the benefits of your asparagus planting, but in two years you will be getting adequate amounts for a delicious feast.

Our older field, tended, and ready for harvesting.