I ate from my garden today, April 11--and an herb caution

Asparagus!!   just a couple of handfuls, but none the less, fresh veg from the garden!!  IN APRIL !  I ate it raw with some salad dressing.

We planted the long line of asparagus three or four years ago,  it takes about 3 years to be fully productive.

Then you just need to fertilize, and keep it mulched, and weeded.   Clean out the spent "ferns"  in fall or spring. 

I referenced a great online photo guide for planting asparagus a couple of posts ago.   Now is the time to do it.  

I also have a caution for you about herbs--any kind of mint is very invasive.  Meaning, you plant it in one place, it will take up residence all over the garden.  I found lemon balm, a type of mint, coming up today, I dug up tons of it.  I wish I had never planted it.   I have peppermint that grows along the edge of the strawberry patch, that I control with the mower.   I have a patch that I moved back to the raspberry area, BUT I found an old washtub with a rusted out bottom,  and dug down a bit, fitted the tub down in about half way, filled it with soil, and then put in the mint.  That should go a long way to controlling the runners that grow underground , undetected, to reproduce like rabbits throughout the  garden.

If you visit someone's garden, and they offer you a shovelful of something they seem to have a lot of ,  be very cautious.  They have a lot of it because it could be hard to control.  Now, I don't believe there can be too many iris or daylilies in the world, but mint,  some groundcovers, lily of the valley, trumpet vine, wisteria, and many others, can really wreak havoc on your garden and lawn. 

If you do have some perennials that need to be split, or want to split some at someone's house, now is the time to do it,  cooler days and nights don't stress the plants when they are transplanted.  Throw some bone meal into the hole to help with root growth. 

Dianne, dirt and all