The first seeds of spring

The winter is still feeling really bleak here. We woke up this morning to a fresh layer of snow over everything.  Last week it was down to the mid- minus-30s with the windchill. And yet! Today has this note in my calendar: 12W Asparagus. It's hard to believe, but we're about 10 weeks from last frost -- 12 weeks from safe planting. Before I started a garden, I never would have guessed how much this feeling of anticipation and excitement over the year to come could help the last few months of winter go by faster.

So here they are: Asparagus, variety UC-157, an open-pollinated hybrid variety that is supposed to be be an early producer. I pre-soaked them for about two hours and then planted them. (And yes, those are leftover cake container lids helping to keep them moist. That's how I roll: eco-friendly, cheap AND tacky.) I've heard that asparagus are supposed to be tough to start from seed, and maybe not worth the effort -- finnicky, slow germinators, and then at least two years from planting until they actually produce good asparagus spears. I did see some crowns (the one-year-old plants) at garden centres last year, and I was tempted by them, but by that point it was too late in the season to plant them -- and I have also read that they take a long time to recover from transplanting. I don't have high hopes for these ones, but if they're looking at all promising in three months' time, I will find a (permanent, sunny, well-drained, trench-dug) spot for them in my garden. Because, honestly, they are SO GOOD baked in phyllo pastry.