Dear Friends,
The next perennials planted in Ishwar’s dera garden were 30 Jersey Knight asparagus plants. Jersey Knight makes huge yields of big, tender, bright green spears.
Asparagus is one of the first plants that emerges in the springtime. It’s a perennial, which means that once it gets established it will return year after year, for 20 years or more.
Asparagus is also a lot of work to get planted properly. First, a very long, 12-inch deep trench was dug by hand.
The trench then needed to be back filled with 6 inches of rich compost, so the team filled wheelbarrows …
… and made swift work of the task by staging highly entertaining wheelbarrow races!
The asparagus roots were then spread directly on the compost layer, and covered with a thin layer of garden soil. Next, the team filled the trenches with another 6 inches of compost. During the next few months, the dirt that was piled to the side will gradually be shoveled back in as the asparagus grow.
Asparagus plants typically take 2 to 3 years to start producing up to their potential, so we’ll all need to be patient. But it will be well worth the wait. In addition to being delicious, asparagus is low in calories and very low in sodium. It’s a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, and selenium, as well as chromium, a trace mineral that regulates the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus.
In the next blog, more perennials are planted!
With warmest regards,
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee