Hi ShedGal, We started our asparagus bed about four years ago, and it has done wonderfully so far. We're in northeastern Illinois in zone 5, and have alkaline clayey soil. We didn't amend the soil before we planted the asparagus, but tilled it and dug a trench about six inches deep. I placed the crowns on top of a small mound of soil at the bottom of the trench, and spread out the roots, before filling the soil back in. I spread aged compost over the soil surface after planting the crowns. Didn't trim the crowns any. A few bits of advice: don't harvest the shoots for the first year at least...some people don't harvest for the first two years. We started harvesting in the second year, but only harvested for a period of two weeks. Each year after that, we increased the harvest period by an additional two weeks, until now we harvest for a maximum period of two months. Also, keep the asparagus weeded. After the initial weeding in the spring, and before the shoots emerge, we spread a layer of aged compost over the bed. Also, after the ferns have died back for the winter, removing and disposing of the dead vegetation discourages overwintering asparagus beetles. Good luck with your asparagus!

We moved into our house ten years ago, and started gardening the second spring we were there. The soil was pure clay, and extremely hard to work. I started working working the soil a lot by double digging, and also worked compost into the soil. Every fall we put all of our fall leaves on top of the garden, and let them break down until the following spring, when we add them to the compost pile. Also, every year I sheet mulch part of the garden, and plant through the mulch. Over the years the entire garden has gradually been sheet mulched, and now we're starting over on sections we sheet mulched several years before. The soil started becoming noticeably easier to work within a couple of years. Now I try to till as little as possible. The soil seems to be healthy, and we continue to add organic matter by sheet mulching.

We just got through with a blizzard here in NE Illinois. Now the cold frame is buried under a snow drift about three feet high. We may not see the cold frame again for a while!

I'm also in zone 5, and have had good luck with buttercup squash. Last year I tried Fordhook acorn squash, and will grow it again. It did very well, tastes good, and has a lot of pulp inside a thin skin.

After exploring around online, it doesn't look good for Florida oranges: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oranges-florida-green-disease-insect We're talking about orange trees, which are introduced to Florida, being affected by a bacterium which is spread by a moth that is also introduced. No oranges of any variety are resistant to greening. The psillid, the introduced moth, I'm guessing has very few natural enemies outside of Asia, where it's native. The University of Florida will soon introduce some natural predators of the moth (from other parts of the world). Doesn't sound like a great solution. The greening disease has been in Asia, where oranges and the moth are native, since the 1800's. I'm guessing that the disease is kept in check there a little bit better by the moth's natural enemies. It looks like the demise of non-GMO oranges is inevitable in Florida, and it's probably only a matter of time before the disease becomes a problem in California: http://saveourcitrus.org/