The Dog That Ate Asparagus

摘要

Voracious vines! Suddenly sprouting seed! We present tales of garden mistakes and the lessons learned from them. At some point each of us has experienced that smite-the-forehead moment when we are overwhelmed by a magnificent idea. The quality-controldepartments in our cognitive centers shut down, and we charge into projects full speed ahead; damn the torpedoes. A long-ago yen for succulent fresh asparagus sent me into one of those ill-considered projects. Signing on to my vision with grace and fortitude, my husband spent a weekend digging a trench that probably would have accommodated Old Paint. We filled the trench with every garden goodie at our disposal: the best topsoil, compost, cow manure, leaf mulch. As we tucked in the sturdy asparagus roots, we prided ourselves on having done everything right. Mouths watering in anticipation, we were still more than willing to wait three years for the payoff, but when the first tiny spears surfaced, we grew uneasy about impatient four-footed marauders. We hadn't factored fencing into the budget, but we did have a conscientious sheltie brave enough to have treed a bear on one memorable occasion. Proud to serve, Shwaya settled herself beneath our bedroom window. We could hear her nestling into position and sighing contentedly. "WOO-WOO-WOO!" she exclaimed at 11:05 p.m., launching herself into the fray like a furry rocket. We imagined a satisfied doggy smile as she returned to her post a few minutes later; the enemy routed. She was off again at 11:22, 11:45, 12:10— and so on until dawn. We didn't sleep much, but we praised our night patrol lavishly at breakfast the next morning.