Sunday, April 8, 2012

Wild Asparagus

It's springtime, so yesterday I decided I'd better check the wild asparagus.  If you have asparagus, you know it grows super-fast and needs to be picked before the stalks get too large.

And so, I put on some shorts.


Our asparagus patch is way out back, in the middle of a field.  The field is high with grass, and I wanted to be able to see and remove any ticks that may get on me.  Every day I see deer out in that field; I know they carry deer ticks.  Luckily, I got no ticks on me.  I love my guineas (who eat ticks)!!!
Here I am - almost!  Hi everyone!

Ok, here we go, out into the backyard.  We have to go through that gate and off to the right.  See all the high grass?  We'll walk out of this photo range to the right.

Aww, thanks, Randy.  He's mowed a path through the high grass for us to get to the asparagus patch.  The sun was shining bright, but there are these odd white shadows in this photo below.  I guess it's just the light.  Many people say my historic house and property are haunted...  Could these be ghosts???

Here's the asparagus patch.  Yes, it's just part of the field, covered with grass.  We didn't choose this area, this asparagus has been growing here for many a decade before we came here.  We just found it growing wild.  We also planted some new asparagus in the same area, but it wont be ready to be eaten for many years.

 

Let's look closely.  Right in the center of this photo is an asparagus sprout.

Here's another.

And another.

All in all, there was quite a few asparagus sprouting, but none were ready yet.  A few more good sunny days and they'll be ready for picking.  They grow fast.  I couldn't even find the baby asparagus we planted last year.  The stalks are fine and look like grass.

While I was out in the back fields I couldn't help but notice the iris blooming.  My mother gave us some old dead iris roots.  Well, she thought they were dead.  We planted them all around the fields.  We didn't know if moles or squirrels or woodchucks would eat the roots, but figured we'd try.  Many flowers here are eaten by animals before they have a chance to grow.  But the iris are doing fine - the roots must be too bitter for the wild animal palates.

Out by the asparagus there's a huge active woodchuck hole.


Here's our old horse barn.  We're not using it.  It has a dirt floor, old wooden walls, and a roof that's barely hanging on.  We keep the door open in case any wild animals want to use it for shelter.  Sometimes Jerry, the outside cat, goes in, and once last winter some deer found shelter from the cold here.  Many birds live inside in the roof beams.


The vines just take over every year.  These vines are covering a fence and are moving to a nearby tree.  They need to be cut back again.  When time permits...

And now we're coming back to the house.  Here's the weather vane on the back side of the house.

Happy Easter!

I'll bring you along when I check the asparagus later in the week!

8 comments:

LindaG said...

Happy Easter! :o)

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Good morning, and Happy Easter to you. Thanks for taking me on your morning walk out to check on the wild asparagus. I looked and looked at the photos and finally realized what the asparagus looked like as it is poking through to the sunlight. I'll wait for the next walk along that pretty mowed trail thanks to Randy!

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Oh, almost forgot. Thank you sweet guineas for keeping down the tick population!

Farm Girl said...

What a nice walk!! That amazes me that fuzzy white in your picture.
I wonder if it is a ghost. :)
Have a beautiful Easter!

Razzberry Corner said...

LindaG - Thanks!! :)
CAGrammy - You'll recognize the asparagus more in future photos. Hopefully next time I take photos the field will be mowed! Randy just has been busy and hasn't had time yet.
FarmGirl - I believe in spirits. But who knows. I'm not a fanatic. It's funny how I always get orbs in photos I take in my living room but not in other rooms.

~Lynn

Kessie said...

What a nice walk! And how wonderful to have established asparagus all ready for the picking (almost). As for ghosts, what is that thing?? Is it a dust mote falling past the camera or something ... else?

Carolyn said...

Happy Easter! And thanks for the walk-about your place. I'm going to plant asparagus this year once we get some raised beds going; hopefully soon! :)

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

Growing up in a small town in Iowa, I remember there were two older citizens who took their knives out into the ditches in the Spring to bring back the asparagus. As children, we had names for them and thought them to be a little "crazy" but I'm sure they were wise to the delicious asparagus.