Asparagus Arrived!!!

[skeeter9]

We are so excited! Our asparagus from Parks arrived!!! We ordered 40 Jersey Supreme roots (all male) to fill our 2 - 4x8 raised beds. Unfortunately, as we were preparing the beds last weekend, we discovered that the nearby Cottonwood tree has filled both beds with roots. Now we have to figure out whether to move them elsewhere, which will not only be a pain in the patoot, but will mean that they are outside of our fenced area, or to cover the bottoms of the beds with hardware cloth, which is expensive and I'm not sure it would be good for the asparagus as the beds are only a foot deep. Good grief!

 

[lesa]

I hate to be negative, but I really think you need to choose another spot for your asparagus bed... Since it is a permanent bed, starting with a problem is not going to lead to a success story. I would use those beds with the roots for annual veggies, this way you can continue to try and keep the area weeded. Find a spot that has well drained soil and sun...I believe the recommended trench depth to plant the crowns is 18 inches. Believe me, you will be very happy having an asparagus bed. Once they are planted, they are very low maintenance. Happy Gardening!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Wow, sorry for that. I just order some Mary Washington asparagus seed. I am going to start working on my bed next week. We are having a cold spell for a couple of days but it is going to be warmed up again on Tuesday.

I am going to have to learn how to tell the male and female plants and what to do with that. With order the roots instead of seed does that mean you can harvest this year or is it just that you get all male plants to start in your bed?

 

[skeeter9]

Some places offer all male plants, but you can also get a mix, HunkieDorie. Supposedly, with the Jersey Supreme, you can harvest the first year with 3-year-old roots like we bought, but we may wait until next year. I even read somewhere that it's better if you harvest the first year with this particular type. Not sure what we are going to do yet.

lesa, we decided to pull those raised planters out completely and move them somewhere else. I think we are going to use them for a kitchen garden. Just don't see how fighting roots all the time would be beneficial for anything we try to grow there. We also decided to put our asparagus into the main garden. Hopefully that was the right decision since it will be permanent.

 

[lesa]

I think that will be perfect!! Happy Gardening!

 

[skeeter9]

The asparagus didn't sprout today! What the heck is going on? It's been in the ground for 24 whole hours and nothing!!!

 

[lesa]

I'd give another few minutes! I try to practice a little self-control... I usually wait at least two days before I start checking!!

 

[vfem]

The asparagus didn't sprout today! What the heck is going on? It's been in the ground for 24 whole hours and nothing!!!

I wish you the BEST with your asparagus. We planted the Purple Knight variety 2 years ago, and found they were completely eaten by voles after only a few weeks. So I dug up the entire bed and laid wire mesh cloth (like on our chicken coop) down below the bed to ensure no more voles got in the beds. Did it to ALL the raised beds actually. So thrilled it worked out nicely. Never planted asparagus again though. Way too pricey after that loss. We filled the bed with Dill, Parsley and Basil though. Makes for a great herb bed now. :weight

 

[skeeter9]

Oh, don't tell me that, Vfem! That's one of my fears, but we can't exactly wire in the entire garden, so we will see how it goes. If it gets too bad, I will station my Corgi out there!!!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Well I am waiting on my asparagus seed to come in the mail, but I saw some asparagus roots at walmart yesterday. They had a Jersey something and the Mary Lincoln. Does anyone know how to tell if roots in walmart would be non-GMO? I was thinking that if I planted a little of the roots my hubby might get some asparagus this year.