The first plants go in!

I'm so excited! The first plantings are in: potatoes, garlic, rhubarb and asparagus! Even though the weather hasn't been great - got a few breaks of rain to get out into the garden.

What Asparagus Looks Like :)

I promised myself that this year, having no real experience in growing successful vegetables I would keep it simple. I remember my teachers through college pushing that saying "KISS - Keep it simple stupid!" for all your exams - although I'm sure they replaced stupid with something more pc ;). But, I couldn't help myself at the shops and bought some asparagus crowns! Such a bizarre vegetable to grow! I know I won't be able to eat a single spear for a few years but its one of those unusual plants that if it actually grows will be a great success story! The strange thing is that they grow almost fern like when you let them grow past a spear. They looks so different to what I expected. The female plants also have poisonous red berries on them, which will be a challenge for the kids not to touch. I wonder if I'll see something out of them this year! :)

As for the garlic I know its late planting. I read online that you could spur on their germination by keeping them in the fridge for a few weeks, which I did in the hope that they will grow into something! Apparently they are hardy wee things that grow in harsh environments so I'm hopeful! A couple of the cloves had turned into green dust... Yuck. But the rest looked healthy enough. Gave them a good feeding of worm tea so let's hope that's enough! Watch this space!

So the garden actually has some green in it - although sparse! In fact... really it's only the rhubarb! :) But the weather has given us some good rain to water everything, followed by some beautiful days! Pity its SO cold at night. Hope the seeds will survive the weather!

I did manage to get some herbs planted too - I bought some mint, parsley, oregano & rosemary. My oregano is 'hot & spicy!' It will be interesting to see what it really tastes like! Great for pizza if it's true! I decided to plant them into pots, so they can take advantage of being in full sun next to my door! :)

I plan to grow basil from seed - as I want to attempt to get enough to make my own pesto this year :) I have a space 'space' in one of my herb pots to put something.. but I couldn't decide what! Will have to have a think about it - but it will probably end up being thyme. :)

Lets hope for some decent weather this weekend to get out in the garden! :)