Awaiting Asparagus

This may look like a barren patch of nothing, but soon there will be tender green asparagus popping up. (The pile of brush is composed of the stalks we let go to seed last year.) We have to remember to start checking every day about this time of year because it comes on strong and grows quickly. This patch was planted many years ago by my parents and has stubbornly clung to life despite neglect and competition from black walnut trees. I know it's over 25 years old because an Army friend of mine earned goody points with my dad by weeding it in 1987. We cleared it out last year and are eager to see if it will continue to thrive.

The tree at the end of the patch is a fig tree, also planted by my father, that bears many figs each year which the birds happily devour. I would like to work out an agreement with them this year that they have the top of the tree and we have the bottom.