Here in eastern Quebec there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground. I envy you, within 3 or 4 weeks we will be only like you now
Pepe,
I love those green treats. Thanks so much for introduceing them to me. They are a true gift of nature.
I sew a patch in last fall, it grew well, but the rabbit ate it to the roots. When the ground got warm, they torpedo shoot out of the soil. We have been eating them for about a week now. They will soon flower.
I cut them flush with the soil. How do you harvest them?
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Kristijan,
If you scroll up this page to the May 21, 2016 @ 1:22 pm comment you will see the harvesting. I generally pull or dig off a section of the whole clump and clean them up. The smallest ones I replant. Glad they worked out for you. Onions are great in rabbit stew 
Break off ALL the flower buds and they will divide more.
Pepe
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Ouch and I thought we were a little late. You can still enjoy these in the garden then.
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Dewberries are good this year. We just picked 3 1/2 pounds. After we eat as many as we can, if any are still available (calves like them!) they will be used to make Dewberry wine, using brown sugar.
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Enjoy those delicious treats down in Texas Ray, the havent eaven started to flower here.
Pepe,
Interasting. I was thinking the opposite, to leave the buds on to produce seeds. They shulld produce fertile seeds right?
I am planning to plant a lot more 
There is allso a red voriety. Looks cool.
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Yes, they will produce viable seeds, lots of them. However, you want to direct the plant’s energy into producing more onions, it’s second survival technique. So, I think maybe one clump dedicated to seeds( first survival technique) and all the rest to making onions. It all depends on how much seed you want . I have started from seed only once and expanded the patch with rows of single onions. You could probably sow the seed in rows, let them grow big enough to handle then thin them out and transplant the thinnings into more new rows. You could get a lot into the ground in one season. It will take several seasons of not picking these rows for them to get to the, OK you can pick SOME now stage and leave some to divide for the next year. Lots of ways to go except wrong, they’re tough plants.
I haven’t seen the red variety, I’ll have to look around.
Pepe
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Ray,
Man, those look so good, I can almost taste them and figs to boot, that’s not fair. The wine sounds interesting.
Pepe
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Speaking of asparagus, I like to forage for it, but I love going out in my garden to pick it. Now is the time to plant asparagus and here’s how.
Dig a trench 8" to 10" deep and a foot wide, don’t skimp on the width, you’ll see why. Note my first bunching onion patch.I moved these to the upper right corner of the bed about 5’ out from the asparagus.
Spread out the roots. Don’t crowd them. Plant 12" to 16" apart in rows 3’ apart.
Fill in trench to original ground level as plants grow. Black plastic keeps weeds at bay between rows.
I got a little behind in my weeding and filling in the trench. Nice growth, though.
The plants are looking really good. Now if you thought all that work was hard, well the next steps are critical and even more important.
- Do not eat any shoots in year one. You can’t grow roots without the plant.
- Year two, maybe a spear or two per plant. I told you it was hard!
- Year three, OK a few more spears per plant, really hard!
- Year four, pick them all for 4-6 weeks and let the plant grow into those feathery beauties for the
rest of the season.
- You can expect 20-30 years of full picking, very great return for your investment. Pepe
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That’s just how I did it. I planted 16 more roots on Easter. Yes and my strawberries are the best investment in my garden.
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Hi Guys,
For those of you that live where they grow, the wild leeks are up. If you’re not familiar with them, on your wood walks, here’s what they look like. It’ll be a few weeks before they size up.
Caveat: If it doesn’t smell like an onion, don’t eat it!
I’ll pick a couple tomorrow to show the plant structure and size.
Pepe
Edit: I found these seedlings today as I swept away some leaves. I also found some other info on line.
Edit 2
I found some new pics. I’ve never seen the flowers of leeks and here’s why.
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we call them ramps, ate some last week.
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Hi Ray,
I’ve been meaning to ask what the plants in the cottage cheese containers are? Do they root easily?
Pepe
Figs root easyly, but the winters are a problem. At my climate (and l suspect you have a similar one if not colder) the plant dyes to the roots each winter, then grows back. We get some fruits, but the regrowing takes too much energy for the plant to succesfuly fruit.
Allso, there is a bug that atacks them. Most figs have a worm in them.
Only about 100 miles south of me they thrive, and usualy give at least 2 harvests, one in June and one in September.
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They are cuttings from a Fig plant I bought from Burpee, described as a Letizia (family heirloom brought from Italy). Last year was the first year, and it produced figs for months and months, so I took cuttings and stuck them in compost fortified with biochar and pearlite, and put them on the kitchen counter. The wife wanted her counter back, so I moved them out to the garden and put them directly in the soil, where they suffered a setback and I lost about half of them. However, those are putting out leaves, so there is hope. When I took them out of the cottage cheese containers, I found they were sopping wet…too much water. Now, out in the garden with temperatures in the 90’s, they might be getting too much sun, and perhaps not enough water.
I’ve been informed that my potatoes need to be dug, and the onions are falling over. (They are 3" and larger.) The garlic is still growing, but when the stalks dry, they will all need to be harvested. We are getting some good green beans from the grocery store Pintos.
I need to figure out where to plant my new fig trees. KristiganL is correct about the worms, but we didn’t notice any worms last year. Or, as the wife often says, “put on your glasses!”
There are hundreds of YouTube videos on how to handle fig cuttings. I tried the easiest method of just sticking them in water, and then moving them to the cottage cheese containers.
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Hey All,
It’s fiddle head fern time here, almost too late as they are mostly all up well. I picked a bunch anyway. Generally you want to pick them before they get 5" tall. Pick the lowest ones and leave some for next years crop. Too tall and the stems get tough. Snap off the coiled heads, clean the papery covering under running water. It comes off easily. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, serve with a pat of butter. They are mild flavored and tender. The cook water will turn a reddish color, discard it. You may also simmer for 5 minutes and change the water, simmer another 5-6 minutes and eat. I just had some, yum!
Enjoy, Pepe
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I went hunting for them last year but to early. I think it is still to early hear. Are your trees leafed out yet bc and if so how long. We have no leaves on the trees yet but I think over the next two weeks they will green up fast. Just looking for a reference, no asparagus here yet.
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Here there are only a few days when you can pick then so it is really tricky to get them. I have alot of then down by the river if I can time it right…
Jim,
The fiddle heads will show at ground level before the trees start to leaf out. You have to keep checking the spot. Mine are on the river bank on my property which is easy to check daily. This year I was busy as a bee and missed a week in which time a lot of the ferns were up a foot or so, like I said almost too late for most of them. The ferns grow fast so you have to keep a daily watch. You can pick them as soon as they appear. They’ll be about the size of a 50 cent piece to a silver dollar. Don’t wait for them to get bigger (they won’t) as at 4"-5" they’re starting to unfurl already and the stem will be getting tough.
Dan is right, only a few days to catch them.
Pepe
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I can’t wait for one of the best wild food, cattails. Collecting the pollen for adding to flour for pancakes is a great way to enjoy them. Also cooking the early tops like corn on the cob is very good, more later.
Pepe
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