| As I prepare my small container garden for my small deck I thought about what my Grandma had to say about the joys of gardening and the cost savings. If you’re lucky enough to have the space for it try it out for yourself. Below is an article from April 1980.
April 1980 “Whenever Spring comes I have to get out on the ocean in a sailboat and sail,” says E. B. White, my favorite essayist. He doesn’t especially like all the trouble and expense of owning a boat, or all the hard work involved in sailing it, or being alone out on the water; but he has no choice. When the wind is just right and the sun sparkles on the waves, he has to be down to the sea and sailing. So it is with me. Whenever Spring comes I have to get out in the fresh air and garden. I don’t especially like making straight rows that turn out crooked, or bending double to plant the seeds, or hoeing down interminable stretches of rows, or picking the vegetables while gnats buzz in my ears and sweat fogs my glasses, or preparing the food for the table or freezer; but I have no choice. When the sun warms the crumbly brown loam and the birds call to each other with delight and the white clouds laze in the blue Kansas sky I have to be down in the garden patch and planting. I like to go to the Andale Co-op at Sedgwick, look at all the jars of seeds and have Elmer Christiansen help my springtime fantasies grow. On the practical side a compulsion to garden will yield two or three hundred dollars worth of food in one season. The economic value will climb higher if a strawberry bed and cherry, apple, peach or plum trees are yielding fruit. An asparagus bed is, also, a worthwhile investment of land, time and energy. Just put the roots in deep trench, fertilize, wait two years, trap the moles, and keep the bermuda grass away and the bed will produce for 20 years. There is genuine delight in finding the first green spears of asparagus as they peep through the ground to see if it is warm enough to come out into the world. The flavor of fresh asparagus has no equal, canned or frozen just doesn’t measure up. Asparagus should be cooked immediately after cutting in a small amount of water until it is tender crisp. The delectable vegetable deserves real butter as a sauce. Some people like a little lemon juice mixed with the melted butter before it is poured over the asparagus. Here is a recipe that can be used as the main dish for lunch or supper. Asparagus Casserole |
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| 3 tablespoons butter | ¼ cup flour | ||
| ¾ teaspoon salt | 1 ½ cup milk | ||
| 1 teaspoon grated onion | ½ cup chopped celery | ||
| ½ cup grated American cheese | 1 cup buttered bread crumbs | ||
| 1 pound fresh asparagus | 4 hard cooked eggs, chopped | ||
| Cook asparagus in small amount of water until tender crisp. Drain.Melt butter in sauce pan. Blend in flour and salt. Stir in milk and cool until thick.Add onion, celery and cheese.Sprinkle 1/3 of crumbs in bottom of buttered casserole pan. Alternate layers of asparagus, eggs, sauce, and remaining crumbs over crumbs in casserole pan.
Bake at 350°F oven for 25 minutes. |
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| Serves 5 or 6. | |||
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