Zone envy.

Karen

I have a lot of berry producing shrubs planted here in my garden. Blackberries, Blueberries, Serviceberries and red currants mainly. I had raspberries for a while but found the maintenance a real chore. But I might try them again some time in the future.

Cheshirekat -- what a bummer about your fig tree!

As for the asparagus -- yes, you do have to wait a few years (especially if you start from seed), but it is so worth it. And if you start this year, you'll be a year ahead of if you start next year... I've planted some hazelnut shrubs (trees?) and 2 cherry trees this year, hoping it won't be too many years before we can enjoy a harvest from them; wish I had thought to do so 20 years ago when we first lived here, but better late than never!

Yeah, that is why I want to start growing them this year. The sooner I start the better. While I will have to wait to get a decent harvest, I think people put forth more energy, growing space, and time, into growing most fruit trees like oranges, apples, plums, etc. I think it is a good investment because I am the only one here that likes asparagus. So every harvest would be for my tummy only. The more I think about it, the more I want a bigger spot to grow the asparagus. A bit greedy, aren't I?

This photo is the first year of my asparagus patch in May 2012. It has matured and expanded and I have added more to the bed. I am thoroughly enjoying wonderful, fresh asparagus. I will have to update my asparagus photos

ckatNM said: I think people put forth more energy, growing space, and time, into growing most fruit trees

Absolutely! I've found asparagus to be very easy-care, once established. The only 2 problems I've had are weeds (I initially started a bed in a new "expansion" section of the garden and it got impossibly overrun with grass and weeds, plus the soil just wasn't very good yet and didn't drain water the way it should, and became quite compacted; the other problem is asparagus beetles, which I watch for carefully in the spring. I solved the first problem by relocating my plants to a different area (they didn't all survive, but at least I wasn't starting completely from scratch again). For the beetles I immediately dust with a general garden pesticide if I see any, because they can become very plentiful in short order. And asparagus is one of the garden things -- like a fresh, ripe tomato -- that is immeasurably better when picked and eaten fresh rather than brought home from the grocery store. Yum!!