Leonard Moorehead, the Urban Gardener: Asparagus at Last
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Urban gardeners are a motley crew. Whether a flower pot on the windowsill, raised bed in a community garden or tucked into the corner of a hidden backyard, we find a place to grow. As leaves unfurl, azaleas, forsythia, tulip trees and the galaxy of spring bulbs attest, spring is here. Chances of a last frost are slimmer, we’re on the brink. Are you thinking of putting potted plants outdoors? Does the plethora of plant sales tempt? First time gardeners and mossy veterans alike feel the eternal pull.
We’re encouraged to till, plant, water and grow. Now is the transition from dreams into reality. We are at the high water mark. Creative urbanites find spaces on sidewalk margins, over driveways on arbors, pots on steps, and find just the right plant for those odd spots once destined for pavement. The spirit of our times is against pavement; rather we seek more green growth to absorb carbon dioxide, colorful blooms to cheer the spirits, the freshest green produce anywhere. Gardens are necessary for us, we are too far from our roots and distant, languish in ways no vitamin supplement can replace.
Are you ready to start a garden? Don’t hesitate to put action into thoughts. There are countless garden schemes plotted out for anyone glued to a monitor. Rather, I urge you to consider what is important to you, what you’ll pay extra for at the organic produce section, which colors, flavors, and scents appeal to you. Arrange priorities and adjust for your particular situation. There is a garden out there just right for you. Take heart. Every garden soon responds to the gardener, success is within grasp.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTI nail two old storm windows to form a simple triangle, two sides’ window, the soil the base. I hoe out a few inches of soil and pile close to the window bottoms and each end of the triangle. This simple cold-frame guarantees successful transition of greenhouse grown plants to the open garden; it is called, “hardening off”. Green house grown plants have never felt wind and are watered on schedule in a narrow range of temperatures. For many, removed from the greenhouse or trucked for miles is a wrenching experience. Select plants with thick stems, buds rather than blooms, healthy promise over plants in full bloom. All early started plants benefit from respite on their way from seed to planting. A week or two with protection outside moderates the transition. In many cases this pause saves lives.
At the moment I have high value, green house plants in the cold frame. Fragrance is important to me. Lavender, pineapple sage, and rose geraniums are under glass right now. They are adjusting to the transition from greenhouse to open garden. They show no sign of stress such as broken stems, wilted leaves or worst, dead. I keep them moist by nesting the pots in the tilled soil beneath and daily watering. Seedlings thrive in small starter pots and soon outgrow the plastic pots and trays. Quick to dry out, damp feet are better and recall, the cold frame is a transient place, not a home.
I found ox heart tomatoes at the flea market. A woman searched for their name in English, she gave me their name in Portuguese, and with her hands she made a model of the “cow’s heart”. I repeated their name after her, she smiled at my Portuguese, and I smiled back. I understood, ox heart tomatoes are an heirloom variety of tomato I’ve grown before. Similar to Brandywine, it forms large fruit vaguely resembling the shape of the heart. Flavor is the chief attribute. “We grow these on my island” she told me. There was more, “my husband and I grow these at home”. I love the stories behind plants and at the flea market I’ve found a winner. Very affordable, I bought a six pack of sturdy seedlings already larger than their nursery pots but a tad too early to plant outdoors. They are now in the cold frame, no longer seeking overhead light but pinched, sending out lateral branches. I’ll repot in larger pots, in the beginning ever ambitious to increase the root system over foliage. I have room for 2 or 3, I’ll swop with other gardeners for more heirloom tomatoes.
She also had “mosquito plants” but I’d seen them at the last flea market, she meant my constant favorite, the rose scented geranium. Touted to repel mosquitoes, I swoon before their lovely better than rose’s fragrance. Too tender to endure the winter in my region, the scented geraniums are favorites. Strong fragrance is certain to capture my attention. It is easy for me to recall people, places and events by scent. Each year I cultivate fragrant plants to enjoy as I roam the garden and dried, to please the nose in the house. Later, in a local greenhouse, I came across a wide range of lemon, pineapple, orange, and a bit more strangely, cedar scented geranium. They do well in pots. Like their better known cousins grown for their red, salmon pink or white blooms, the scented geraniums tolerate drought, adore sunshine, and thrive in modestly fertile soil. They make for excellent companion plants, many insects dislike strong fragrance. I grow them out of pure love, I am better when around them. Easy to start from cuttings, geraniums just might become the potted plant of choice for your winter windows in addition to the open garden.
I often bring home a pair or more of plants. Rarely planted together, there is safety in numbers. Test plants in various locations. Aspects to note are need for sunshine or shade, whether better in pots or in the ground, sturdiness against children and pets, and sometimes, just because I like to see them around. If you’re faced with a six pack of tomatoes but have room for less, buy them all and trade for other varieties with friends. Big box stores have driven the small neighborhood greenhouse to the edge of oblivion. We have fewer choices in varieties and cut back on local jobs. Knowledgeable staff is less common; plants are living beings and treated as just another bar code. Many urban gardeners are cut from different fabric. I keep an eye open for local plant sales, those sales sponsored by Scouts, churches and do very well in flea markets. Flea markets are often immigrants chance to sell home raised plants. I find treasures such as the ox heart tomato. Many community gardens sponsor plant sales; my home town has a community garden whose plant sale is virtually required attendance.
As a child my grandfather pointed out a plant to me that would grow right back if cut down and that it was very good to eat: the asparagus. Later, I was given a copy of Euell Gibbon’s “In Search of the Wild Asparagus”. This legendary field guide remains a good read. Once regarded as curiously eccentric, Gibbons was far ahead of his times. Asparagus is an old world plant originally from the estuaries and shores of NW Europe. It thrives in moist, humus enriched soils with plenty of sunshine. Fairly large and fern like, asparagus is the first produce from my garden. It is harvested as a shoot rising from established rootstock. For the next month I’ll patrol the asparagus bed for new shoots, cook briefly and savor. My asparagus thrives under thick permanent mulch, enjoys long sunny days and defies pests. Most folks purchase two year old roots, plant and wait for two years to harvest. Don’t let this timeline discourage you. Do plant the roots. Keep the plants well mulched during the off seasons; their rampant growth is a frenzy of green during summer. In the fall, the plants are covered in red berries: the seeds. I plant them among their parents for very high germination rates. Once started, the asparagus bed becomes as perpetual as sunrise and as reliable as sunset. Reach beneath the mulch to quickly slice through the shoot, be tender and gentle; do not walk on the bed. I plant comfrey, my all- purpose companion plant next to the asparagus and both thrive.
Surrender to spring’s charms. Clear your calendar for plant sales and seek heirloom varieties at flea markets. Consider scented geraniums for fragrance and memories, and do not let long time lines discourage your efforts. Best of all, start your garden, move forward and get outside.
Leonard Moorehead is a life-long gardener. He practices organic-bio/dynamic gardening techniques in a side lot surrounded by city neighborhoods in Providence RI. His adventures in composting, wood chips, manure, seaweed, hay and enormous amounts of leaves are minor distractions to the joy of cultivating the soil with flowers, herbs, vegetables, berries, and dwarf fruit trees.
Related Articles
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Before and After
- Leonard Moorehead the Urban Gardener: Hollies Forever Holidays
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Bless Garden Catalogs
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Icy Grip? Pass the Salt
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Winter Blooms
- Leonard Moorehead the Urban Gardener: Gardener’s Wish List
- Leonard Moorehead the Urban Gardener: “Scent, First and Last”
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Fall Gardens Flush and Full
- The Urban Gardener: Hunker Down, Look Ahead
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Wreaths Go Full Circle
- Urban Gardener: Composting For Winter
- Leonard Moorehead, TheUrban Gardener: Snow is Good for Gardens
- Leonard Moorehead, the Urban Gardener: Spring’s Snowy Prelude
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Spring Poised on the Equinox
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Vernal Equinox
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: April Opens with Kindness
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Spring into Action
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Container Gardens for Urbanites
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Let’s Go Green
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: The Great Melt
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Seeds in the Snowbed
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: All For Love
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Hope Springs Eternal
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Patience is Virtuous
- Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Spring Busts Out!