One permanent addition I have been dreaming about for years is asparagus. I have planted asparagus in the past, but I have never been able to stay long enough to harvest. I'm hoping this time I can still be at my current location in three years to enjoy fresh asparagus. I decided to order Jersey Knight roots because they are mostly male and are suppose to be highly productive. I have the bed picked out for the asparagus to call home. Currently broccoli are in that bed, but they are about done with only side shoots left for harvesting. Soon I will pull them and add some compost and await my asparagus roots and then I will be waiting for awhile for those first fresh asparagus spears:
Next on my list of permanent garden additions is grape vines. The arbor at the entrance of my garden looks empty and I dream of clusters of grapes greeting me. In searching for grape varieties, I decided I want seedless red grapes. We are lucky to have a muscadine vine naturally growing next to the driveway. They have a wonderful flavor that brings back childhood memories of muscadine eating and picking. They have a very thick skin and plenty of seeds, so I want something different in the garden. After reading descriptions I decided on Reliance grapes because they are suppose to be one of the best tasting and I want grapes for snacking rather than wine or jam making.
I have been wanting to add berries to my harvest because they are so yummy and not too cheap at the store especially if you want organic. I have already gone on and on about my blueberry dreams. Next on my wish list for berries are raspberries, which were a maybe for this year because I have to build a new bed for them. However, since I already filled my shopping cart with two grape vines and 25 asparagus roots, I thought I might as well throw in raspberries and save myself some shipping fees. I began researching what raspberries to plant and I learned that raspberries don't like hot and humid weather, which is an accurate description of SC for almost half the year. The best bet for the south seems to be Caroline raspberries, from what I read they seem the most heat and drought tolerant. So I added five raspberry plants to my order, which means I have to build a bed for them soon. I want a raspberry bed like this gardener in Alaska made:
It's going to be a busy spring! As for that garden budget, these permanent additions cost me $87.80 and so far this year my harvest is worth $12.98. January and I already have a garden deficit! I definitely will not be making my money back from these permanent additions any time soon. Long term investments will eventually be worth it.... right? Hopefully they live long enough to produce yummy harvests. I also have a feeling I will be battling the birds for berries and grapes.
Do you have permanent garden plants? Which ones are your favorite?
My favourite permanent garden plants are the Tamarillo and Passionfruit. The passionfruit is on its last legs though and I have planted a new one but its probably 2 years off fruiting. I planted a lemon about 18 months ago and my first lemon will ripen soon after my diligently picking off all the other fruit. Very exciting! I do want a Pomegranite and a Olive tree though but I have to rip stuff out to fit them in which is always difficult.
ReplyDeleteGreat "permanent" ideas. I am trying the jersey knight asparagus this year also. It's hard knowing it will take 2-3 years to be harvest ready, but well have to think long term! I am also starting raspberries this year, it seems really simple, but we have weather that is made for them so they seem to flourish around here. It never seems like the mathematics work on investment vs return, but I call it therapeutic so there are a lot of intangibles and organic is a lot healthier also (these are ways to make me feel good about spending more money!)
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