Asparagus bye-bye

Alas, I just couldn't justify keeping the asparagus patch along the west bed when it gives so few spears and has issues with aphids and stuntedness etc.  So, removed it all.  Now the only asparagus remaining are a few spears that come up along the north edge which is now turned into grass, will let those spears do what they want.

Asparagus harvested (first batch)

Decided I'm going to harvest pretty much anything and everything I can this year, since with the aphids last year who knows if the patches will survive.  Most spears so far as quite thin still, I imagine weakened from the aphid battle.  But, even the thin ones were delicious!

(The asparagus were started from seed in Feb 2018).

Asparagus spears appearing

 The first asparagus spears are poking up their heads, specifically in the most neglected bed north of the compost bin.

No snow cover along house walls -- sorrel and north asparagus completely exposed

 Not much snow this year...  The areas along the house walls, especially the north and east walls, the bare ground is visible.  The sorrel, and all of the north wall asparagus, are completely exposed...  With temps reaching the -20s recently.  Oh well, we'll see what happens, the asparagus has been a mess lately anyway...

Asparagus near compost bin also now infested with aphids

Oh well. I hereby declare that next year I'm going to eat whatever I can, before all three patches are permanently kaput.

Asparagus aphids still here, ecosystem with lady bugs and house flies

Wow that asparagus patch by the patio door is sooooooo completely infested with aphids.  Wonder what the long term damage will be.  There have been a few more generations of lady bugs, including some adult beetles who I witnessed today emerge spotless from their... whatever their previous form is called.  There are also a lot of house flies who hang around the asparagus constantly.  Can't figure out if they're eating the aphids or not.

The asparagus by the compost bin also has some starting :-(

Not doing anything about it this year, other than eventually removing the ferns later this fall.

Oh no!!!! Wasps are eating/removing ladybug larvae, even the big ones!!!!

Update on the ladybug larvae:

 

The outside-born ones it seems were mostly eaten / disappeared.

 

The inside-born ones:  Wow, do they ever grow FAST.  They did mostly* great, with new ferns added once or twice a day, and a wet cotton ball inside the jar, with cheesecloth lining (triple-folded).  Their shed skins were all over as they grew.  Gradually over the last ~3 days I've been setting a few loose into the asparagus each day.  It was tricky to get them take hold of a new asparagus fern and not fall off as it bounced into place, but it worked with some patience.  I could swear I wasn't seeing as many on the plants as I was releasing.  Well, sure enough, today as I was out to release the last two*, what did I see but a wasp/hornet in the plant wrestling with a balled-up ladybug larva, one of the bigger ones!!  The wasp/hornet flew off with it!  Noooooooooooooo........!!  Dang it.  One beneficial insect eating another beneficial insect.  *The last two or three seemed to have something wrong with them starting yesterday -- they seemed to lose their ability to move normally, just lying in place wriggling their legs around, unable to get up and move.  I tried placing things there for them to grab onto, but the same issue.  So today I just set them loose onto the ground near the asparagus plant.

Lady bug eggs hatching, outside ones getting eaten by something!!

The lady bug eggs on the asparagus ferns are hatching!  Both inside ferns hatched today.  I set one outside for a bit, but then it disappeared, I think it fell from the wind because it wasn't secured very well.  Darn.

And, one of the outside ones, within a few hours after hatching almost all had disappeared!  There was a larger grey/mottled beetle hanging around nearby, who I assume ate them.

So, I brought in another of the unhatched ferns inside.  Total of two batches inside, with the plan to raise them for a few days until they're bigger, to give them a better chance of survival so they can get busy eating those asparagus aphids!

First -- and only -- asparagus harvest this year

Harvested two spears.  They were tasty.  Won't harvest any more this year because of the issues the plants are having.  I figure they need all the strength they can get from the other spears.

Asparagus problems!!! (1) tiny orange insects (2) leathery (3) dried tips etc.

Noticed earlier this week that some of the asparagus spears didn't look normal.  Indeed some of them are shrivelled and leathery; some have tiny orange insects on them (<1mm), one had a small hole drilled in it near where I found a small black fly, and some have dried tips or a shrunken midsection, etc.

Arghhhhh

So I cut off the wonky ones and sprayed everything with dish soap / water solution.

Don't remember seeing this last spring, but, I did see an asparagus beetle last summer.

I can't figure out what the cause is, though.  Maybe the tiny orange insects are circumstantial because I can't find any info on what they could be in terms a problem for the asparagus.

Asparagus have started appearing, including several nice sized spears

Several days ago noticed the asparagus have started appearing.  This is the year I get to make the first harvest, and it looks like there will be some nice sized spears!

Spotted asparagus beetle found in asparagus patch next to compost bin

Spotted aparagus beetle found in asparagus patch next to compost bin.  Red/orange, with black spots, and two long black antennae.  This type of asparagus beetle apparently lays eggs near berries, so will have a look soon.

Asparagus nowhere to be seen...

No sign of any of last year's asparagus plantings yet, in any of the three beds.  I would have thought they'd be coming up by now... hopefully soon.

Transplanted almost everything

Transplanted, almost all with a trowel or two of mushroom compost:
- peppers (all look sad)
- tomatoes (some not too terrible, but definitely stunted compared to where they should be)
- rest of the ground cherries (all look sad)
- asparagus (with plenty of vermiculite added in) (these actually look pretty good, not sad like everything else)

All that's left inside now are the zinnias, Malabar spinach, and the one tuberous begonia.  Those are all looking good and healthy so far.  Plus a very sad looking pepper and tomato reject or two.

Asparagus moved to top shelf with old lights

Re-organized the plants/shelves now that have 6 flats of peas to make room for.

Part of this involved moving the asparagus to the top shelf, under the old Cobourg lights.  Hoping they'll be ok with this...

Asparagus sending up new shoots

Several of the asparagus now have second shoots coming up.  Very cute.

Asparagus repotted into soil

14(!) asparagus sproutlings repotted into their own soil tubs.  That's 14/16 seeds that sprouted, assuming the other two don't pop up in the coming days.  Pretty darn good!

Asparagus has appeared!

Yay!  Both asparagus tubs each have 2 sproutlings discovered today.  Removed them from the heat mat and put them under lights.  Will wait a little longer before repotting; hopefully the other sproutlings will follow shortly.

Heated seed-starting mat

Bought a heated seed-starting mat today.  Hoping this will help the asparaguys get going, no sign of them yet.  Has been on for a few hours and the tubs seem nice and toasty now.

Asparagus seeds started

First indoor sowing (begonias don't count)!

I miss having asparagus in my garden.  So, sowed 2 x 8 seeds, in vermiculite tubs the old fashioned way.  Put them in clear salad "mini greenhouses".  Now the longgggggggg wait to first harvest begins.  Seed was free from Telsing.