Don’t worry . . it’s not a snake!
It’s pretty normal for us to go June, July, August and even into September without getting rain . . as in zero rain. Because our well water has a high pH, many plants, including asparagus, will not produce much if I’m watering with with well water, which is the only water we have available.
So far, in September, we’ve had 4.51″ of rain.
Vince asked me to go out to the garden and look at all the okra blooms. I think it loved the rain too.
I am so happy to be getting so much okra to save. But, while I was out there, I glanced over at the asparagus and look what I saw:
Once the spring rains stop and we get into summer, even if I water the asparagus, it quits producing. With the rain and a bit cooler temps, it’s producing again. I don’t think it’s ever done that before. What a treat to be getting that when it wasn’t expected. My hands were full (I had stopped by the freezer and grabbed a pork tenderloin for dinner) so I have to go out and snap off the remaining asparagus and that will be one of our veggies for dinner. The other . . yep, okra!
Dottie Newkirk says
YUM!
Tee says
What? Our asparagus goes to seed after mid-June. They get feathery and huge, which feeds the roots for the next year. I have never thought to look to see if there are spears, but it is doubtful, as the plant has done its job by producing leaves and then eventually seeds. I get a lot of new asparagus plants from seeds that drop.
Judy Laquidara says
We try to plant only male asparagus crowns but sometimes they’re mislabeled and we get a female in the mix. Only the females produce seeds and the males produce a larger spear, which some say have more flavor but I’m not sure about that. This is the first year I’ve ever known ours to produce a second crop. In fact, I just noticed that our artichokes have popped back up too.
Tee says
It is an odd year. Up here, we have lilacs in bloom again. I have never seen that in all my life.
Heidi Van Vliet says
Careful what you wish for 🙂 Where I live we get 92 inches of rain a year, it sometimes feels like it will never end and the winters are very dark even during the day. Any vegetables that like extra heat struggle to get going and I lost all my tomato plants this year to blight. I did have a really good carrot and kolhrabi year.
Judy Laquidara says
There has to be something in between. I grew up in Lake Charles, LA and their average is about 62 inches per year. The ground is flat and you have to be really careful where you plant or where you build so you’re not always in standing water but I do like the rain. Where we’re moving gets about 47″ of rain per year and 10″ of snow. Here in Texas, our average rainfall is about 32″ but we go or months without a drop, then get 3 or 4″ at once, which certainly isn’t good for trying to grow things.
JustGail says
I don’t know if my asparagus puts out new shoots all year or not. Except this year, after getting almost flattened by derecho, I noticed a lot of new shoots growing afterward. I don’t know if it’s because I normally don’t notice the new stalks hiding among the fronds or if it really is putting out more because the fronds got pulled enough by the wind to fool it into growing more than usual. Just another oddity to add to the year’s list.
I don’t know what it is about rain vs. well water – we have good, although hard, water but plants still do so much better with rain. Is it temperature, mineral content, even minor difference in ph….no clue!
Nelle Coursey says
I knew you would like the rain!!
Susan Nixon says
A nice surprise! Yummy!
Rebecca in SoCal says
Singing in the rain, just singing in the rain….