Ended up getting busy yesterday, and couldnâÂÂt respond. Christen, I love the idea of making our own ketchup, may have to look into that. I donâÂÂt use it much, but DH does. Dave, we have quite an extensive solar system, we run our business here and also have 2 warehouses on the property, have only run out of power a couple times, and when that happens, we have a generator for back up. We usually have to run the generator on occasion just to keep it working, not because we need it. No hunters in the family, and I donâÂÂt think DH would even eat venison. He is a cow man, which we have plenty of those around, however I donâÂÂt think the ranchers would appreciate it! DH prefers to shop in the âÂÂfreezerâ section of the grocery store, as opposed to our freezer. Nila, the town was fun to build and we still need to add windows and doors to the different sections, but mainly it was to keep the deer and rabbits out. No, do not want tourists! Besides, itâÂÂs not THAT special! Doing plain tomatoes and then doing whatever to them later is kind of what I was thinking. MyFamilysFarm, to bring electric in is out of the question, as we would have to pay for them to run it 6 miles. Solar was cheaper (although quite expensive still) and then we would also have had a monthly bill. The freezer is electric, stove, dryer and hot water on demand are on the propane. It takes us almost a half hour to drive that 6 miles! We have lived here for 12 years, and NO it is NOT for everyone. The town has 2 actual buildings down at the end, the Black Smith shop, which is more or less used for storage, and The Shady Lady is 2 parts, the front has some shelves for my seedlings when we start them, a small growing area, and the grill, the back half is seating with a little bar and a pellet stove for when we move the plants out there in the early spring. Here is a pic I took this morning, not really sure you can see the growth in one month. In a section you canâÂÂt see, I have pulled my onions (size of softball) and put in some kale, beans and cukes, hoping I have time and the critters leave them alone! They got all my beans I planted in the spring and actually have gotten into some that I have out there now. I may have to put jugs over them.

Bob, If you amended your soil well with compost or manure or other organic matter, then I bet your asparagus has all it needs and that additional feeding wouldn't be necessary. Furthermore, if you always keep it heavily mulched (and my vote would go to a mixture of non-weedy grass clippings and chopped/shredded autum leaves), the mulch will feed the plants as it decomposes. So, if you keep adding mulch continuously, you'll be feeding the soil over time, and the soil will feed the plants. However, I went to Dr. Cotner's (he's the former head of the horticulture department at Texas A&M) wonderful vegetable book (The Vegetable Book, published in 1985) to see what he recommended for fertiziling asparagus and here is what he recommended: First, when enriching the beds prior to growing, he recommened tilling the soil and then covering it with 3 to 4 inches of organic matter like compost, grass clippings and hay plus approximately 1/2 pound of manure (he calls it 'barnyard fertilizer') per square foot. He also recommended applying a balanced fertilizer, like a 10-20-10, at the rate of 1/2 lb. per 100 square feet of bed area. Then, for regular bed maintenance during the first two growing seasons, he recommends spreading a high-nitrogen fertilizer like ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) at the rate of 1/4 lb. for every 100 square feet of bed area or that manure be scattered at the rate of 50 lbs. per 100 square feet of bed area. He recommends the usage of these fertilizers just before the spears emerge in the spring during those first two years. His recommendations for the following years (after the first two years) is to fertilize about two weeks before the end of the harvest period. The only difference is that if using ammonium sulfate he says to increase the amount to 1/2 lb. per 100 square feet of bed area. He also recommends keeping the bed mulched heavily constantly to keep the weeds down. Hope that info is helpful. Dawn

Look for the features you want. I grill a lot of vegetables year round. I have a vegetable wok & a 12 x 16 vegetable cooker; they are black metal with small holes. I like the flat one better than the wok--it seems that only the veggies closest to the grill cook anyway. It fits 2-3 zucchini sliced or 2-3 chayotes (new grill favorite). Zucchini & summer squash do well cut in wedges also. Kabobs work great, but the tomatoes always fall off the ends. For chicken tenders (small pieces of skinless chicken breast) I like to line them up in a grilling basket and flip them all over at once after 8 minutes on a side; being next to each other keeps them from drying out on the sides. I like to nest shrimp together too--keeps them from dryng out. Pam makes a grilling spray that I use on the accessories. That being said, look for the amount of square inches of surface area you want. Stay away from the Sam's Club grill--it's big and has a big $$$; the problem is that you can't get replacement parts and you end up with a big, shiny shell in a few years. For Char-broil or Sunbeam or any others, look at the literature to see if you can get replacement parts easily. The burner (thing with holes) fills up with grease, burns out, and you end up with an uneven hot spot. Watch to see if grease can fall into those holes in the first place. That's when you need to get replacement parts. Our most recent grill is a Ducane, but I think Weber bought them out less than 2 years ago. I looked at my grill, but it doesn't list BTU's or anything. I prefer a shelf on the side & a side burner is something dh likes for tamales or fish soup. As far as timing goes, I have to get used to it for each grill--it must be a BTU thing--and how close the burner is to your food, and what high or low means...etc. With fish, other than shark, tuna or mackeral, I usually wrap it in aluminum foil. Reynolds sells a "Release" foil that foods don't stick to. Highly recommend it for fish on the grill. Oh, and fresh corn on the cob!! Can't wait: Take out the cornsilk; soak in water; then cook 10 minutes on each of 4 sides. By the last time, the shucks will catch on fire and some of the kernels will be slightly charred. Great in a black bean salsa! HTH

To add to Dorothy's comments: 1) Strawberries...if you want to move the plant and its offsets, now is a great time as being moved now will give the plant time to settle in before our awful summer heat arrives. 2) Asparagus can last for a couple of decades, so be sure it is exactly where you want it because it will be all but impossible to move it later. You dig a trench, plant it, and fill in the trench first with just a couple of inches and then, over time, you fill it in the rest of the way. On the attached OSU fact sheet, you'll see much more info. However, keep in mind that the most common varieties it references are out-of-date, and more commonly now, you'll see the newer male hybrids that produce more spears and fewer seeds, like UC-57, Jersey Knight, Jersey Supreme, etc. In the first few years, you will only get a few spears per plant, but as the years go on, you'll get more and more. We get so many that we often have a hard time keeping up with them. (They do freeze well, though, and I even eat the young spears raw in the garden while working.) My intention was to plant 10 plants per person to keep our family fed, but I think I ended up planting a lot more than that, based on the theory that "too much" is better than "not enough". I think we ended up with 40 or 50 plants for a family of 3. Dorothy's point about getting the bermuda grass (and any other perennial grass) out of the area first and about never letting it invade is about the most important thing anyone ever will tell you about asparagus. Dig out every bit of grass that tries to invade your asparagus bed the very second you see it. If you let a perennial grass, especially one that spreads via runners or rhizomes, invade your asparagus bed, you'll never get rid of it once the grass is established, so never let it stay long enough to get established. I fight Johnson Grass constantly, but each year I get less and less Johnson Grass regrowth in and near the asparagus so I think I'm winning the war. OSU Fact Sheet on Asparagus in the Home Garden 3) Without knowing exactly how you started the dill seed, we can only guess what went wrong. My best guess is the seed was old and incapable of sprouting. The smell? Maybe from rotting seeds, maybe from keeping the growing medium too wet. Another possibility? If you are using an organic soil-less seed-starting mix, then something in the mix wasn't fully composted, likely chicken litter. In the first or second year that Miracle Grow had an organic soil-less mix on the market, it was too high in chicken litter content and stunk to the high heavens (and killed everything people planted in it). Be sure you aren't overwatering your young sprouts. Being too wet leads to rot and rotting leads to stinkiness. I don't even use the domes on flats, but back when I did, I removed the dome the very instant I saw even one tiny sprout. I have 10,000% more success without the domes than I ever had with them. I probably also was overwatering, something which I have worked hard for decades to overcome and, in fact, if anything, I keep everything on the drier side almost to the point of letting it get too dry. Note that I said "almost", because letting plants swing from too dry to too wet is not good either, and I know that, so I strive to keep things evenly moist, but never sopping wet and never bone dry. Little newborn roots need consistency and they do not need extremes in their moisture level. Hope this helps.