Inspired by Asparagus (from my veggie garden)
I have long wanted to make a pendant about my favorite, most beautiful garden vegetable, Asparagus. I just love the way it is designed. A little like an artichoke. A little like an exotic flower. An always the loveliest shades of green. This year, on probably the hottest day of summer, I decided I needed yet another patch of Asparagus. It takes about 3 years to get one going well and the one I planted that long ago seems kind of barren to me so I found some great asparagus shoots and started digging the trenches.
Meanwhile in my studio I was making a ceramic mold from one of my asparagus spears.
Asparagus roots purchased from a Nursery ready to plant
This is how the roots look when they come from the Nursery. This one already has some shoots ready to grow so I figure these will be a vigorous bunch and give me a productive new patch.
When my mold came out of the kiln, I could see that it was going to be a good, clear impression.
asparagus roots laid out in the trenches I dug which are 8 inches deep and 12 inches wide
My asparagus mold came out well and I began making some trial pieces. They came out well but were too big. So I tried a small pendant, and I am so pleased with how it came out.
When I planted these, I spread the roots out like an octopus with the little shoots heading upwards. As they grown I will gradually add the soil that is mounded around the trench. At planting I put in some rich compost and some soil over the roots. The deep trench is to encourage the roots to stay deep in the soil so they can weather the cold winter.
my not too productive asparagus patch
I will still keep this patch and we have gotten some great pickings from it but it should be more productive, I think. I may have planted it too close to our raspberry patch. Or the soil may be too dry. Not really sure what is going on with these.
asparagus pizza we made about to be cooked
One fun way to eat asparagus in on a homemade pizza. I found a great recipe for pizza dough in the Spring issue of Fine Cooking. This is the first recipe that every helped me make good homemade pizza.
So that is my story of Asparagus love and how it came to be that I made these ceramic Asparagus Pendants. To celebrate the new patch and the pendants, I am having a giveaway. I hope you will enter and I wish everyone the best of luck!!
The Giveaway
You can win an Asparagus Pendant like this one.
You can win an asparagus pendant like one of the ones below by leaving a comment on this blog post. I would love it if you would tell me which veggie you love the most, but you don't have to to enter the giveaway. Just a comment and a way to contact you is all you need to do. I will pick a winner on Wednesday , June 20, the first day of Summer. . So be sure to enter by midnight Tuesday, June 19. Thanks so much for reading this post.
