asparagus

[HunkieDorie23]

My husband had asked that I plant asparagus. I have never grown asparagus, never cooked asparagus, never eaten asparagus. My organic gardening book is vague, I looked up some stuff and it is apparently easy but takes a year to harvest. Plant it once and it grows forever. Does that sound right? Anyone else have asparagus beds.

Oh the good news is that I told him about having a permanant bed for 40 years ... and so I will be getting at least one high quality, last for every raised bed.

 

[lesa]

Asparagus is wonderful! It is super easy to grow, tastes delicious, is ready very early spring (before anything else), super nutritious, etc. etc. The downside is that you have to be patient... You really shouldn't harvest for a couple of years. Because of the waiting factor- it took me years to finally decide to put in a bed. I am so thrilled that I finally did it! Don't wait- do it this year! The only word of caution I would offer.... once the spears go to flower they look like an asparagus fern- they tend to fall over and look kind of messy. I wish I had put the bed in the back forty and not on the side lawn... The other thing is they don't take well to transplanting- so once you decide where you want it, you can't change your mind. ( So difficult for those of us gardeners, who are Gemini's!) Happy Gardening!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't grow it in raised beds. Hopefully someone who does can talk about how they do it. Asparagus is a permanent commitment to that spot. You can't move it or replant it and expect a decent harvest.

I cleared out two different areas just so I'd have a shot at getting the drainage right, dug them up and got as much grass and weed roots out as I could and mixed in a lot of compost. Then I planted the crows a few inches deep. I water to keep the soil damp but not soaking wet that first year. In other words, they need an area that drains well. I watered regularly the first year until the plants were established. After that, I only water when it gets pretty dry. Aparugus can take fairly dry conditions once established, but in last year's drought, I did water deep.

The first year you plant it, don't harvest any spears. It needs those to grow and provide nutrients to get the root system established. I've heard different things on the spring after you plant it. Some say to harvest it sparingly that first spring and others say it actually does better in future years if you harvest it as usual. I did it pretty much as usual and get pretty good harvests so I tent to think it does not hurt. This timing assumes you plant crowns. If you grow it from seeds, you have to wait an extra year.

I harvest it for several weeks, then just let it go so it can store nutrients for following years. Since you are not growing it for market, don't pay any attention to what you read about how big it should be before you harvest it. As long as you get them while they are still young and before they start to fern out, those really skinny ones taste just as good as those thick ones. You need to keep them all cleaned off so it will continue to send up new spears.

Don't clean off the old ferns until they are fully dead. They keep producing nutrients for the roots as long as they are alive. I usually wait until after New Years to cut them down.

A word of warning. You need to watch for it in the spring. Last year I just happened to walk by one bed and the spears were up and ready to harvest earlier than I expected. They'll sneak up on you.

Asparagus is another one of those things that tastes better fresh. I still like the stuff you can get at the grocery store if I pick a fresh bunch and if I cook it myself, but there is a noticable difference if you take it straight from the garden to the pot. Don't overcook it and, as far as I am concerned, don't drown it in sauces. But that is getting into personal preference.

Good luck. The only hard part for me in growing asparagus is the weeding. Maybe that will be easier in a raised bed.

 

[lesa]

Mine is in a raised bed- they do fine there. Also, added a small bed in my regular garden. Don't see much difference between the two.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

When I put my little asparagus bed in last year I too had little to no information on how to tend them. Plenty of info on harvesting, planting, cooking etc, but no info on maintaining. What I did figure out on my own is that in the fall when the ferns die back and turn brown (mine took forever to turn brown) you should cut them back. Give them a little flat top hair cut about 2 or 3 inches above the ground. You should add some compost and cover with straw or hay for winter. I also did a little weeding before I covered mine. They are starting to pop up new shoots with this early spring we're having in my part of the world.

I hope some more experienced asparagus farmers chime in. I would also love to learn how to maintain my bed to keep my asparagus happy and growing.

Picture from last years garden. You can see my asparagus bed in the top left of the picture. Wispy ferns when you let them grow. Lesa is correct when she said they can get out of hand and look messy.

 

[swampducks]

Do what Ridgerunner said.

Here's a LINK to a good site with pictures.

We didn't harvest ours, couldn't really, for 5 years. Our soil was too heavy and it took that long to produce more than a couple spears per plant. Want to do another row this year with better soil now that we know better.

SD

 

[retiredwith4acres]

I have spent the day trying to clean out my asparagus bed! If anyone knows the secret, let me know. I cannot keep it clean. Now it has all those old weeds from early spring in it and is a mess. I have the first round cleaned, but know they will be back next week because you can't get all the roots. I have got to get it under control! There is too much to do in the spring and summer to have to mess with it every week. I couldn't even see where the rows were when I started. I hope our wet winter hasn't rotted all the roots.

HunkieDorie, I would put them in a raised bed if that is possible. I think that would help keep them under control. I didn't have a choice when I planted mine because I moved and brought them with me and didn't have time to plan ahead. I am looking forward to my first eating in a few weeks.

 

[swampducks]

Mulch? About the only thing I can think of. My bed is always full of weeds so I'm probably not the one to ask. :/

 

[curly_kate]

We moved last year, and moved our asparagus with us. I hope we didn't ruin it! There was some growth last fall, so I don't think they are all dead, but now I'm nervous! I've used regular old black mulch (or something similar) to keep the weeds down, but it's kinda hard still.

 

[Southern Gardener]

This is my second year for asparagus. I have harvested some already and they were delicious! It is by far the easiest veggie to grow IMO. Mine are not in raiised beds - I have clay soil, but has been amended with compost.