Martha Monday--Asparagus

Spring is the season for asparagus.  I planted two bushes? shrubs? root balls? of it last year and since asparagus takes three years or so to get established, I'm still waiting on the tasty spears. However, asparagus is plentiful at grocery stores, farmers markets and in roadside ditches now.  Get your hands on some to make these awesome Martha recipes:

Asparagus Guyere Tart

Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

Need more?  You can find all of Martha's asparagus recipes here.

In the meantime, I've found my asparagus.  Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I needed to weed out the area next to the compost bin, which is where I had planted my asparagus?

I finally got around to it!

And look! It's asparagus!

To help the asparagus get established, it must be allowed to grow throughout the summer season.  The larger root base the plants develops, the more it will be able to produce.  And since asparagus plants can last for twenty years or more, it's really in my best interest to let it grow and grow and grow. 

Over the past few weeks, that small purple stalk has turned into an enormous 6-foot-long plant:

I can only hope I'm rewarded for my patience next spring with enough asparagus to make one of Martha's tasty recipes. 

Do you grow/find/buy asparagus?  How do you prepare it?

Summer fun

Okay, it's still spring, but the free and fun family activities have already begun.  A few weeks ago, I took the kids to the Kane County Farm Bureau's Touch-A-Tractor event. Little Guy and Little Miss had a ton of fun (maybe too much fun--there were temper tantrums as we were leaving) and I was happy to have a free, family-friendly activity to share with the kids.

In the coming weeks, I'll be searching the web and newspapers for more fun, free family events to fill up our summer months.  As I found last summer, there is plenty to see and do around here. 

For tips on how to find free or low-cost events in your community, read this post on Living Well and Spending Less in the Summer.  Happy planning!

What's happening?

So I dropped off the radar for a bit, and you better believe I was very busy during that time.  It's spring, and my kids and my garden are my life.  Here's what's happening:

The dwarf peach and pear trees (along the north side of the backyard) are doing quite well.  You can see in the background that Handy Freddy has been really busy making the vegetable garden border.

Along the south side of the yard, I added a Golden Delicious apple tree...

...and a Honeycrisp apple tree. Both are dwarf varieties from Stark Bros.

I planted those a few weeks ago, and they already have leaves. Awesome!

Between the start-of-the-season sale at Spring Bluff Nursery and the Conservation Foundation benefit, I acquired two new flowering shrubs and several native perennial flowers for the two butterfly gardens.  One is located in the NW corner of the yard under a honeylocust tree...

...while some others are in the SW corner of the yard.  I'm hoping the flowers will attract butterflies and bees, which will help with the pollination of my vegetable plants. I certainly don't want a repeat of last year's pumpkin sex incident. 

Next to the SW flower patch I installed two strawberry patches.  The variety on the left is the June-bearer Surecrop.  To the right (on the other side of the white trellis) is the Ever-bearer Ozark Beauty.  Strawberry beds are good for three years or so, and while they can take a year to get established I am really hoping for a few berries this season.

I put the broccoli seedlings in along the west side of the yard.  Hopefully these will do well and be ready for harvest in June or early July.  If so, I can start another round of broccoli seedlings in June, and plant them in mid-July for a fall crop.  Broccoli for everyone! 

Also in the ground are some carrots, beets and peas.  I hope to get the kale, sage and dill in the garden after work today, and I've set aside a large portion of this upcoming weekend to get some more things in the ground. 

What's been happening in your neck of the woods?

Martha Monday--Mother's Day

Mother's Day is May 13, and I'm sure you've already lovingly made your dear mother a beautiful card, a darling scrapbook of your fondest memories and have a wide array of flowers (that you've grown from seed, obviously) ready to be picked on Sunday morning so they are at their absolutely freshest.

You did this, right?

You didn't?

HOW COULD YOU FORGET YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT?!? AFTER ALL SHE'S DONE FOR YOU?

Just kidding.  As a mom, I'm a firm believer that while having a special day is nice, there's really no need to make a special fuss on Mother's Day.

I demand recognition of my hard work, sacrifice and dedication on a daily basis.  Just kidding! Sort of. Mostly. 95% kidding, okay?

Anyways, if you are in the mood to do something different from the usual card/flowers routine for your Mom this year, Martha has some great ideas. 

Is your Mom into movies and Hollywood glamour? This ticket stub sentiment would be perfect for her:

Better yet, have a family movie night in honor of Mom and be sure to let her pick the movie:

Is your Mom the crafty type? Give her a package with everything she needs to complete a craft.  Then, and this might be the most important part of the package, give her the TIME to do the craft. Seriously, go mow the lawn or do some laundry. Maybe clean the house.  Just sayin'.

But whatever you do, do not give your mother this:

Unless she specifically asked for a Big Ball necklace.  Seriously, Martha has a TON of great crafts on her site, but I just cannot get behind this.

In summary: for Mother's Day, a movie night or craft package is great.  Big Ball necklace? Not so much.

At least, not for this mom!  Happy Mother's Day!

My work is cut out for me

Spring is here, and I can finally get started on the garden I've been planning since last summer.  But first, the garden beds need a lot of work before they are ready for seedlings.  Actually, the whole backyard needs a ton of work before anything can happen. My to-do list is long...very, very long!

As you can see, the weeds took advantage of the ridiculously warm summer-like weather we had in March, and are already taking over my vegetable beds:

Obviously, I need to spend a good amount of time weeding the beds before they can be tilled.

And I finally gave in to my OCD tendencies and purchased landscaping timber to border the garden beds.  This will give us a clear border between garden and lawn, making it easier for The Big Guy to mow and trim, and better protecting my precious vegetable plants.  Thanks to Handy Freddy for picking up the lumber!

Once the garden beds are weeded and tilled, I'll install the border. Here, I put three sections of the timber together so you can get an idea of where I'm going with this:

I have a few peony plants coming up on the north side of the house, and I need to get some mulch around them before The Big Guy accidentally mows them down.  In which case, I will accidentally punch him in the throat. It happens, right?

Note to The Big Guy: This is what a peony plant looks like. Do not run it over!

In fact, all of the flower beds need to be mulched, as do all the fruit trees.  Add that to the list!

The compost bins (all three of them) are 2/3 full.  I need to do some rearranging of the piles to make room for all of the stuff that will be coming its way in the next few months.

Gasp! See that bed of weeds in the foreground of the picture?  That's where my asparagus is planted.  Weeding is making several appearances on my garden to-do list.

Item #458 on the to-do list is to hook up this rain barrel.  I am the proud owner of two rain barrels, but this one (that I got for my birthday last fall...thanks, Big Guy!) needs to be connected to the downspout.  I'm searching online for a fancy connector that will let me switch back and forth between directing water to the rain barrel and keeping it moving through the downspout, so if you have any sources, please let me know in the comments.  Thanks!

Add to the list cleaning out the gutters, making the trellises, and on and on and on, and I have a very busy spring ahead of me.   I can't wait!