Asparagus

ASPARAGUS!  I have an 8' by 3' asparagus bed.  I'm proud of it.  I harvested over 60 spears this year before letting the plants grow to replenish for next year.  It was great!  Last year I barely got a dozen (and they were late to emerge) and I thought they were dying.  I LOVE asparagus!  Fresh asparagus tastes better than grocery store ones!  And they are tenderer while still crisp when steamed...

I started with 10 crowns 15 years ago, but am down to 7.  I should replace the lost ones.  Or maybe I should just replace them all this Fall.  I haven't decided.  2 years ago, I covered the entire bed with black plastic to kill all the weeds.  That didn't work.  The weeds survived and the voles went crazy under the safety and warmth of the black plastic.  They killed several crowns entirely and damaged others.

But because I wasn't sure where the new spears were emerging (so I didn't want to chop them with the shovel) and didn't want to dig weeds out around the bed, the weeds are taking over.

Anyone want to come over and weed my asparagus bed?

I seem to have a lot of tree saplings and grass...  Yes, they grew THAT high just in this year!

Well, when I dig all the saplings and grass clumps up, I will do what I USED to do that helped.  Place folded up sheets of newspaper between the asparagus stalks.  It works great.  I just kind of overlooked it the past two years...