April 18, 2013
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Asparagus, The Flower Planter And Chewlee….
TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM
I was barely into my first cup of coffee this morning when the Beast comes up on the deck and tells me that I have to come down into the yard and take a look at my asparagus. I just raised my eyebrow and gave him *the look*. I was still in my jammies and had no shoes on my feet. He was so excited over something to do with my poor asparagus that he finally blurted out, *You won’t believe it! There’s a bunch of asparagus and it’s ready to eat!* I just laughed. I told him that I wasn’t surprised because all he had done was chop some of it at the top of the dirt (leaving the root area, which keeps producing asparagus) and he just bent over the rest and let it dry out and then started pulling at it to *clean* the area. Well, after almost three years of growth, the roots were deep and he couldn’t pull them out so he just bent them over the other way until they snapped. He did pull a few out, roots and all but they were very thin since he had been careless when he had put the seeds down. Men are idiots when dealing with seeds unless they have been trained. He watched me put the seeds down for my lettuce and radishes (also my bush beans but those seeds are much bigger).
When I had started into my second cup of coffee, I finally put on some clothes and shoes and made the trip over to look at the asparagus that had sprouted up. Damn if he wasn’t right. I was shocked since it’s only been four or five days since that area was cleared, dirt added and the veggies were planted in it. There are probably two dozen asparagus ready to be cut. Plus there are others that will be ready in a few days. I decided to give them another day (or maybe two) then I will cut them, wash them and refrigerate them until I have enough for a nice side dish for our meal. What surprised me is that they ALL have nice spear heads on them.
I found a squash the Beast had planted in the same area and told him it had to be moved. Tomorrow we will clean out the last area of the planters and he said he will move it then. I’ll make sure of it, trust me. I won’t have some squash choke out my asparagus at this point.We finally cleaned out the weeds that grew in the flower bed out front during the winter. The Beast had put down some ant poison at one end where we had found an active ants nest in it. We discovered that the nest was empty or dead and broke it all up before we added more enriched dirt to it. My rose bush presented me with a thorn that I had to pull out of my finger. Why wasn’t I wearing my gardening gloves? Because the Beast either threw them away or moved them from where they were kept and can’t remember what he did with them. All my hand tools are gone, too. My little rake, trowel and a few other tools used for trimming plants like my rose bush out front. Where I pulled the thorn out of my finger bled like a sumnabitch, too.
We put in an oriental lily (a beautiful plant), plus a bunch of annuals. I told the Beast that he needs to think *perennials* and spend the few extra dollars so we aren’t constantly having to plant new flowers every year. However, it was fun to watch Chewlee dig right in with her hands and dig holes for *her* flowers. I was in charge of taking them out of their containers, handing them to her and then helping her cover them with the dirt from the holes she had made. She would dig a hole, then go over and rinse her hands off, come back and cover the plants with dirt, go over and rinse her hands off, come back, dig another hole in another area….well, you get the idea. She knew just where she wanted the plants to go with the exception of the lily. We had to tell her where it needed to be planted but she gladly accepted that. The Beast had to help her with that since it was the biggest flower pot and needed a deep hole.
The flowers out front are now *hers* but she has accepted the fact that she can’t pick them. Otherwise, they would all be picked within the next couple of days. We know our girl.
I was upset to find the lilacs out back of our lot next door are all gone. It looks like some of the neighbors might have helped themselves to a few, too, and I can’t blame them. I think they all know the land is ours but they don’t last long anyway. The hydrangeas are gone, too. They were cut so they ARE gracing someone’s home. I think I know who probably took them since she walks the circle every day but she’s a sweet old woman and probably thought I wasn’t interested in them. I’ll get them earlier next year but I was told I may get more this year since hydrangeas will grow similar to my asparagus. They CAN keep growing all summer. I reserve judgment on that until/unless I see it.
I have both my hummingbird feeders up. The Beast bought me one to replace the one he bought me that we can’t get the suction off. It’s not working like it’s supposed to and wouldn’t feed the syrup into the bottom. I really liked it, too. But the new one he bought also has perches so the birds can rest and feed. That will help the mothers feeding their babies in a couple weeks. It will also help the Beast take some pictures of the beautiful variety of hummingbirds we have, we hope. He claims he will share them with my family but he lies. We shall see. One of the hummingbirds that came to look them over and then feed was just gorgeous. It had red, green, blue and gold coloring. I don’t remember seeing one like it before but my memory sucks. It’s just a tiny thing, only three inches or so in length. I’m amazed at the difference in sizes of some of them.
It was gorgeous outside this morning for our morning coffee, other than the damn yellow pollen everywhere. Baron was lying on the deck and we had to brush him off before letting him back into the house. We sprayed off the table and then wiped it down along with the chairs before we could sit down. Oh! We discovered the pollen is coming from our pines out back!
I know! I was surprised, too. However, when the Beast was coming home from picking Chewlee up from gymnastics, he ran into a regular pollen storm just down the road. He actually stopped the car on the road because it was just pouring down from these couple of trees so thickly that you actually couldn’t see beyond it. After about five minutes, it was thinning enough that he drove through it and returned home. Mystery solved. We really hadn’t been sure which trees were responsible for it but it makes sense now why we get it so heavy out back. We DO have 50 and 60 foot pines in back. Love you all. Have a great day.
