Asparagus and Strawberries for the Spring Garden

I convinced Hubby to go to my favorite nursery on Saturday. We hadn't been since Fall and I was in withdrawals. No matter that I'd already purchased several packets of seeds from my favorite online suppliers, and had already started my tomato seeds. Or that we haven't finished preparing the raised beds or containers yet. Nope, I drug (dragged?) Hubby and VHTS to Paulino's in North Denver for a look-see.

Came home with 10 asparagus roots, 25 strawberry plants, 1 blueberry bush, seeds for a eggplant specifically bred for containers, and adzuki and onion seeds for sprouting (eating as sprouts).

We decided to leave our two 8x4 raised beds for the next owners, and are hoping if we get them pretty green by June (when we put the house on the market) that people will be more apt to buy a house with a yard that's producing: asparagus, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, radishes, beans, greens and carrots. Hope we aren't looking at this with rose-colored glasses.

The first 8x4 raised bed, prepared to be acidic, will have:
  1. blueberry bush (already there - the only one that didn't die last year)
  2. 6 asparagus roots
  3. 20 strawberries

Last year we grew soybeans and carrots in the second 8x4 raised bed. This year we'll plant:

  1. 3 tomatoes on the north side of the bed, completely with marigolds and basil in between
  2. greens (black seeded simpson, buttercrunch, parsley, etc.)
  3. carrots (orange, red, yellow, purple and white)
  4. radishes
  5. 3-4 bush beans

In our front yard we have 3 small areas prepared where last year we grew tomatoes, soybeans, bush beans, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, asparagus (which have disappeared!), basil, borage, and black turtle beans. We also have (from last year) 4 roses which may or may not be alive, lots of crocuses and tulips, 2 red raspberry plants and about 15 strawberry plants that look like they survived the winter. The borage also never completely died so it might stay put.

This year we'll plant:

  1. Top area: boston pickling cucumbers to trail up the two posts from porch floor to roof
  2. Top area: already has 4 roses, which may or may not be alive, so we'll plant a few various yellow flowers there and might add a yellow-pear tomato in the middle of the row
  3. Middle area: yellow wax beans (because yellow is a good house-selling color; I don't like these beans so here's hoping the new owners do!)
  4. Middle area: a few hot pepper plants
  5. Bottom area: spaghetti squash (we think) because, again, yellow is a selling color. Planting at each end of the long 12-foot bed and will "train" to grow towards the middle. Plenty of room, and prolific. Another gift to the new owners!
Last year we used kiddie pools for our cold crops (lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, etc), and kept under a shade tree but these pools are very heavy when full. Not practical when planning a move.

Instead... we're planting as much as we can in 5 gallon pots/containers so we can move them to our new home. We have about 30 pots so this is our plan for them:
  1. Blueberry (the new one that we bought on Saturday)
  2. Eggplant
  3. Eggplant
  4. Hot pepper
  5. Hot pepper
  6. Striata-d-Italia Zucchini
  7. Striata-d-Italia Zucchini
  8. Yellow straightneck squash
  9. Yellow straightneck squash
  10. Bell Pepper
  11. Bell Pepper
  12. Okra
  13. Okra
  14. Bunching onions
  15. Bunching onions
  16. Wonderberries
  17. Raspberry
  18. Raspberry
  19. Blackberry
  20. Blackberry
  21. Blackberry
  22. Tomato/basil/marigold
  23. Tomato/basil/marigold
  24. Tomato/basil/marigold
  25. Tomato/basil/marigold
  26. Tomato/basil/marigold
  27. Tomato/basil/marigold
  28. The rest will have as many tomatoes as possible. We're growing several varieties - but never enough!

We have other containers that still have plants alive from last year (indoor grow lights / dormancy): (1) asparagus (2) asparagus (3) blueberry (4) banana (5) wonderberries.

Ooops. Guess I got off topic. I love my garden, and as things grow, we'll post regular updates with pictures.

No comments: