There should be quite a zinnia abundance in our garden year. I know that I am not the only one who loves these bright flowers… check out Mr. Butterfly. It looks as though he has had some rough times with his left wing, but that does not stop him from enjoying this flower.
Clearing the Jungle
This year, I was lucky to find a whole shoebox full of zinnia seed packets in the garage of an estate sale for $2. Of course, I bought them even though they were from 2002, so why not? They will either grow or they will not grow, either way, it was worth the investment. I planted all of those seeds in a wide row about 18 feet long in this garden patch. They are all overgrown with weeds, so it is time to spend some serious time weeding. I have dug out the borderline of the iris and placed the guardian gnome at the garden entrance.
A kind of search and rescue mission ensues to discover where the zinnias, marigolds, and other flower seeds are located among the ground cover weeds. Can you see the different shaped leaves in a row? It is hard to see, isn’t it? I start with the for-sure weeds and work my way around until I can discover where the row is.
The marigolds here are much easier to identify in this confusing crowd of weeds.
Here it is all weeded and transplanted. They sure wilt and look horrible for a little while, but I always follow my grandma’s advice. Immediately, give any transplant a real good drink and they will be fine. She is totally right!
Tired and overheated, I feel as though I should give up. But, thankfully, I notice another area of Zinnia’s already blossoming just a few feet away. They were planted with seed last year and re-seeded themselves so they are a welcomed returning garden resident. I am encouraged. The anticipation of being able to paint these colorful petals with their light highlights, and shadows that exaggerate the shapes is all this artist needs.
I love when the asparagus comes each year. Here is what our asparagus patch looked like just as winter melted away this year. See all the dead lying on top of each row? It looks like a zombie garden, but, there are some real treasures getting ready to spring up as soon as it warms up a little. I raked all the dead off the top just after the snow melted which was about 2 weeks ago.
Our patch is finally had enough time to actually grow up and produce reliably for us. It is a total of seven 25-foot rows that were 
Who else loves asparagus?
Every other day I pick about 10 pounds of delicious vegetables. This is a picture of the first harvest with some long and some short. All sizes are delicious and also very good for you.
We have asparagus and are picking it every other day, but the harvest quantity is starting to decrease now. Each time I pick, we have fresh asparagus that evening, which we really love.
With this batch, I did a quick 2-minute blanch in boiling water and after they were dried out they were bagged and frozen. I like to have them dry before they are frozen so that they don’t stick together in the freezer. This makes it a lot easier to pop them in the microwave and cook them without having them all sticking together. Did you notice how much darker green they are from the blanching?
Looks like only 1-2 more batches and I will be done with making tomato sauce for this year. This is what a typical batch looks like this year.
Our garden produce tastes so much better than store-bought. Hmm. It is worth the work. Besides, what would we do all summer long if we didn’t have a massive garden to tend? Absolute chaos would ensue across the entire planet I am sure. We would have to figure out a way to spend hours and hours each day exercising. But the trick would be in finding something to do that does not cost much but is fun and it is outside.