growing asparagus

chewie · #1 03/21/12, 01:06 PM

i planted 4 starts of the stuff last spring, tending it all summer and it looked pretty dead by fall. but i see this spring now one of the plantings has 4-5 tiny little shoots!

what should I do to make this stuff happy and grow like the weeds? do I pick this year or let go to seed?

luvrulz · #2 03/21/12, 01:11 PM

Asparagus likes 12-24-24 fertilizer and you can pick 1/3 this year. We have 2 yr crowns planted and are able to pick all 4 acres this year! YAY! Love the stuff and it's a big seller at the farmer's mkt!

Joshie · #3 03/21/12, 01:15 PM

Pick sparingly this year.

oregon woodsmok · #4 03/21/12, 01:17 PM

Did you plant crowns or seed?

If you planted crowns, you can pick the first shoots this year. Depending upon how vigorous they are you can pick the first 1-2 shoots then let it grow. The fern that grows feeds the roots and makes them stronger.

**Terri** · #5 03/21/12, 04:14 PM

I pick shoots larger than my little finger.

Asparagus likes the ordinary good care that other vegetables like. I do not weed them when they are taller than the grass, though.

chewie · #6 03/21/12, 04:41 PM

i planted plants, not seed. they were in tiny square containers, about 3" square. the shoots are the size of the lead of pencils, there are 7-8 of them. i'm jsut happy something is coming up at all!!

fireweed farm · #7 03/21/12, 05:33 PM

Don't pick any then, wait until next year to pick sparingly.
It's worth the wait.

chewie · #8 03/22/12, 05:30 PM

ok, that's fine. I am sorry I couldn't have started all this years ago, so another year won't hurt! My master plan is to have a yard that is full of edibles, not something to waste time/money/effort to mow and tend for....nothing! I planted blue/black/rasp/and strawberries and apples in my 'yard'.

Joshie · #9 03/22/12, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewie

i planted plants, not seed. they were in tiny square containers, about 3" square. the shoots are the size of the lead of pencils, there are 7-8 of them. i'm jsut happy something is coming up at all!!

I'd wait until next year and harvest sparingly then. It'll taste so much better then and your plants will be a lot stronger.

Kazahleenah · #10 03/23/12, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewie

ok, that's fine. I am sorry I couldn't have started all this years ago, so another year won't hurt! My master plan is to have a yard that is full of edibles, not something to waste time/money/effort to mow and tend for....nothing! I planted blue/black/rasp/and strawberries and apples in my 'yard'.

Same here. Besides my garden, I now have a rhubarb patch, horseradish patch, blackberry patch, 2 blueberry bushes, raspberry bushes, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and cherry bushes (6).... oh! and my asparagus patch. lol

Macybaby · #11 03/23/12, 07:14 AM

I planted mine and left them the first year. They didn't put all that much out, but it does make a rather messy show when the ferns get tall. Leave them until they die back, or leave them until spring and then cut them out of the way. Don't pull them, they don't come lose and you can pull up a lot more than you want.

Mine are on thier third year, I got several meals out of the patch last year planted another two rows of them. I haven't seen anything popping up yet, and I have not cut down the old ferns either - darn warm weather has caught me unready - still have a few weeks of indoor stuff to get done before I can switch to outdoor projects. I get a four day weekend for Easter.

My asparagus bed area also has strawberries and rhubarb, though I've had a hard time with rhubarb here in SD. Also planted some raspberry and grapes last year. Expanded the fruit trees too, but it will be a while before I get much of a harvest out of the rest.

ronbre · #12 03/24/12, 11:29 AM

I would never consider chemical fertliziers on asparagus, they will be full of poison that way..yuk..

Asparagus loves an alkaline soil, so lime or wood ashes are helplful, they LOVE manure and compost..and they also don't mind being interplanted with some other perennials or long season crops..

Asparagus loves a good mulch..Mine gets constant refueling of sheet composting..I just throw the weeds, kitchen scraps, etc right out on the bed..

I have sour cherry mini trees and a dwarf apple planted in my asparagus patch, as well as some iris to bring in pollinators, some rhubarb along the edges, onions here and there ..Grapes up an arbor on one side..and I tend to toss in a few different things each year..sometimes brassicas, or squash or whatever.

CIW · #13 03/24/12, 01:07 PM

We've had good luck burying the crown in rotted manure in the fall, after the die back. It seems to warm the ground up sooner in the spring. The asparagus also seems to be larger around and more tender.
Pick a little, then let it go to seed by early summer. It can gain strength toward the next years production that way.
Each year your crop will increase. About every five years we divide the crowns in the fall and replant, increasing our bed.
Doing so we dig a trench about 2.5 to 3ft. deep and fill the bottom 2ft. with manure and the rest with the soil we removed. Then plant in that.
If the crowns are planted in a soil slurry they seem to have better success also.
This process works well to promote rhubarb plants too.

Riverdale · #14 03/25/12, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazahleenah

Same here. Besides my garden, I now have a rhubarb patch, horseradish patch, blackberry patch, 2 blueberry bushes, raspberry bushes, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and cherry bushes (6).... oh! and my asparagus patch. lol

Kaza, wanna trade horseradish roots for blackberry roots? I'll even pay for shipping (flat rate box).