My experience with asparagus is that it has taken much longer than they say for them to become fat. For me it has been 6 years and just getting there (planted 2 year old roots). So, let the thin ones grow tall and gather strength, and hopefully your patience will eventually pay off. Then they last pretty much forever, right? (A friend and I happened upon an asparagus bed from an old abandoned homestead while looking for morels -- they were FAT and delicious!)

Oh, Kathy, yes Ma'am! I would love Diane to start me a Rose D'Or! The Gardenia rose is really growing. It has three 7 ft. long branches now. I am going to get a cattle panel at the farm center to build me an arch for it. I will set sturdy posts on the four corners and hope that supports the lovely monster. I can't wait for it to bloom. The other roses you guys sent me cuttings of are growing really well too. Unbelievably, they all rooted and bloomed last year - the first year! Poor little things had big blooms but were only 8-12 inches tall. Kathy, I can send you some lilac plants to try. Plant them where they have room to grow. They fast moderately fast and eventually can reach up to ten feet, unless you keep them cut back. They bloom on new wood, so after they finish blooming, cut them back immediately, else you will not have blooms the next year. The bushes spread, but not rampantly. The blooms are up to ten inch bouquets on the tip of each branch. So, more branches, more blooms! I give mine manure feedings each summer and then give them a dose of wood ashes (or potash) in late winter or early spring to encourage blooms. They don't require watering (after they become established the first year) unless there is a drought. I throw the dog poo under mine and they seem to like it. Good use for dog poo. :) They can be trimmed up into a small tree. There is no other fragrance like a lilac, so I cannot compare it to anything else, but it is super sweet and unforgettable. Monarchs love them and will frequent them and lay their eggs on or near them. Many other butterflies love them as well. They are a favorite perch for colorful birds. I don't know what variety of cherry my trees are. They grow into either small trees or large bushes - about ten-fifteen ft. tall. The cherries are tiny, bright red and sour. They make great jam, but too little for pies, since they are mostly seed. The darned Cardinals eat them faster than I can pick them. The birds even eat the blooms, darn them! They are snow white and right now humming with honey bees. They make lots of little trees around them. I keep digging them up and moving them over. Maybe if I get enough of them, I will have enough cherries for me AND the birds to share. :) Thinman, the locals around here are all a twitter right now with "shroom hunting"...and target practice. :( Oh, boy. I found a lot of Morels last year and one was as big as a grapefruit, I kid you not. Up in Tulsa, they have several grassroots groups (friends) who meet every spring and go out on hunts. I think that would be fun, but could be dangerous if every spies the same mushroom and dives for it. People might even go ballistic on you. Aaaaa! I found several disturbed places up in the woods, so think the deer beat me to them. Blast it! Oh well, they NEED them more than I do. I just WANT them. ~Annie

Dorothy, Our asparagus began popping up out of the ground about the second week in March. It was kind of early, but our soil warmed up early this year. Warren, Jersey Knight does fine for me here so I expect it will do well for you there. We also have Purple Passion and it is not only tasty but I think the color looks awesome in the garden. At the risk of jinxing my plants, we've never had asparagus beetles here. (knock on wood) Mia, Barbara Kingsolver had a really terrific asparagus recipe of Deborah Madison's in her book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". I'll link it below. If you don't happen to have morel mushrooms growing on your property, you can substitute pretty much any mushroom of your choice and it still will taste great. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Asparagus Bread Pudding

They look like morels to me, too. Cut one in half. If the stem is all one piece with the top of the mushroom (not two separate pieces like a portobella, etc.) and it's hollow, it's a morel. Grandma used to soak them in salt water to make sure any small beasts were not lurking in the cap, then dipped them in egg and rolled them in flour and fried them in butter. She also added them to scrambled eggs, which was Dad's favorite. I don't have any favorite recipes, because I don't really care for them, but I did dry some and grind them up then mix them with salt for "morel salt", and that made the flavor go a bit further. Enjoy them, it's still in the 40s here, and morels are not yet appearing. Annie