Asparagus Questions

[CrazyFeathers]

Hi, I joined today and need some help with my asparagus bed. It is well established and produces wonderfully. We purchased the property a bit over 2 1/2 years ago and it was already here huge and seedy.
1- when should I stop harvesting? I am in central WI.
2- right now my bed is very weedy, should I clear all weeds and mulch around it, garden cloth?
3- in the winter what is the best way to care for it, or prepare it for the cold, if any?
4- could I add chicken, pig, rabbit, or goat poo around plants? When would be the best time of the year to do so?
5- should I feed my asparagus with something? Staying chemical free of course.
Thank you for your time. I know a little about a few things and less about others so thank you for putting up with my questions.

 

[Smart Red]

1. If you are harvesting the asparagus now, you can continue until the new growth is about the diameter of a pencil. I stop all harvesting the 4th of July to let the roots nourish themselves for next year.

2. When my bed got weedy I simply couldn't get it clean so I ended up waiting until the next spring -- before the spears started showing -- and removed as many of the weeds as I could. Then, when the spears started growing I had applied straw to keep the weeds down.

Mulch would probably help at any time to keep some of the weeds down and make the taller ones easier to remove, but I am NOT a fan of garden cloth unless you plan to remove it for a cleaning every year or so.

3. I do not remove the fern stems in the fall. I think I read somewhere that there is a greater chance for crown rot if water sits inside the cut stalks. I do cut the back as early in the spring as the melting of snow allows.

Fall is also the time I put chicken and/or cow manure over the bed. Asparagus are heavy feeders and need a good dose of fertilizer every fall for good growth.

4. Anytime you have stopped harvesting you could add (aged) chicken, pig, or goat pooh, but I usually wait until fall when the plants have yellowed. Then the pooh need not be aged as it will mellow over the winter in place.

5. Feeding your asparagus with manures is the most organic way to keep them nourished and healthy for future years, especially since you don't want manufactured chemicals. Of course, manures do add chemicals to the soil. Mined, manufactured, or pooh, fertilizers will all change the make up of your soil. I believe you meant more "organic" than "chemical free".

6. If you have a larger patch of asparagus than you need for your family, you can let a portion of the bed grow unharvested until July 4th. By that time as you stop harvesting the part you cut before July, you can cut the fronds down and begin harvesting the rest -- extending your harvest season for a traditionally spring treat.

 

[CrazyFeathers]

#5. You are absolutely correct, organic. Thank you for the information.

 

[CrazyFeathers]

#4 & 6 excellent information.

 

[Smart Red]

@CrazyFeathers, do you have a composter or compost pile? Having one is just about the best thing you can to for your garden. I know that you have at least one chicken from the pic of your grandson.

I use a deep litter system with my coop so when I clean it out in the spring, I put the litter in an empty/fallow raised bed in my veggie garden. That's where I make my compost -- adding to the pile until late summer when I start letting the litter build up again. Mown grass and shredded leaves are also added to the chicken litter through the summer. The next spring I have plenty of compost. I move the compost to the other planting beds, plant the fallow bed, and choose a new bed to leave fallow and build my compost pile in.

 

[PhilaGardener]

With great advice like that, you will have plenty of asparagus to enjoy Thanks, Smart Red !

 

[CrazyFeathers]

I do not compost. My chickens are my composters. I get free compost from the dump that I add to my beds every spring. Our manure gets spread on the field due to the abundance of it. I will do as you said and wait until fall when plants have yellowed and add some poo. Thanks again!

 

[bills]

Smart Red's reply was about as good as it gets, in regards to asparagus beds.
I can confirm you definitely don't want to use landscape cloth, as a weed preventative. It would hinder the new spears in the spring, that may pop up off to the sides of the main root. This has been happening with my older bed for the last 3 years, so I use straw only. The spears can shove it aside as they come up.
Another factor in allowing the ferns to mature completely, is that the seeds that form on them can drop off, and sometimes start new plants in the spring. In eight years, my bed has more than doubled in production from that. Landscape cloth would also prevent those seeds from rooting.

 

[CrazyFeathers]

Thanks Bills, I appreciate your input and your suggestions have been noted.

 

[Carol Dee]

Great advice from @Smart Red and since she is in your zone very appropriate. I will also use some tips. We have never feed our asparagus! Time to do so as the bed behind the garage is getting sparse.