“We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented,” Francis told an empty St. Peter’s Square in March 2020. Calling for a rethink of the global economic framework, he said the pandemic showed the need for “all of us to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”
3-8, asparagus isn’t one of those vegetables you need to plant every year, so plant it where it can thrive long-term. That means selecting a sunny spot with well-draining, fertile soil. To achieve that fertility, incorporate a generous helping ofor well-rotted manure into the soil before planting.
Although it’s possible to grow asparagus from seeds, I recommend planting year-old crowns, which are dormant roots, instead. You’ll find them at garden centers and in catalogs. Planting crowns provides a head start by reducing the time to your first harvest by a year.Plant crowns into weed-free, prepared beds in early spring, digging trenches 12-18 inches wide, 6-12 inches deep and 3 feet apart (if planting more than one row). Plant crowns 12-18 inches apart, spreading the roots over the bottom of the trench, then cover lightly with 2-3 inches of soil, and water well.As shoots grow, add more soil gradually until the crowns are fully buried and the trench is filled in. Then apply mulch.
Water plants deeply during dry spells but avoid overwatering.Allow plants to grow undisturbed for two full years, then begin harvesting in spring of their third year, when stalks are 6 to 10 inches tall and about as thick as a pencil.
Use a sharp knife to cut each stalk slightly below the soil line, but take care not to damage emerging stalks. You can continue to harvest for roughly six weeks, depending on your climate. In my suburban New York garden, I can harvest asparagus until the beginning of July.
It’s important not to harvest after the six-week period that begins when the first stalks are mature. The remaining stalks should be left in place to store energy for the following year’s harvest.Born Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the eldest of five children of Italian immigrants.
He credited his devout grandmother Rosa with teaching him how to pray. Weekends were spent listening to opera on the radio, going to Mass and attending matches of the family’s beloved San Lorenzo soccer club. As pope,brought him a huge collection of jerseys from visitors.
He said he received his religious calling at 17 while going to confession, recounting in a 2010 biography that, “I don’t know what it was, but it changed my life. ... I realized that they were waiting for me.”He entered the diocesan seminary but switched to the Jesuit order in 1958, attracted to its missionary tradition and militancy.