Asparagus

We bought property with an established garden, but the contents were never disclosed. We came to discover the asparagus the following spring, almost a year later. We had seen these wonderful fern like plants, very tall and quite delicate. The next year I was intrigued to see if this plant flowered so I cleaned the area where they were found and waited. Mother's Day, there abouts, every year, asparagus appear. I only have one male plant which produces seeds, the opposite of any other plant, and started 36 additional plants. Those plants are now 3 years old, they are too slim to eat, but I'm hoping that this year they will be ready to eat!

I am sharing with you some info that I have taken from Organic Gardening, Vol 58:1. Plant asparagus during its dormant period: early spring where winters are cold; fall or winter in milder climates. dig a trench a foot wide and nearly as deep, incorporating plenty of compost and a handful of high phosphate organic fertilizer. space the crowns about 18 inches apart and cover them with 2 to 3 inches of rich soil. add more soil as the plants grow to gradually fill the trench. (very similar to growing potatoes).

Once planted it is best to leave them for 2 or 3 years before harvesting the first spears. in the fourth spring and thereafter, the plants should be vigorous enough to yield 8 weeks of harvested spears. Charlie Nardozzi, author of vegetable gardening for dummies, offers a technique, dubbed the mother stalk technique, for extending the harvest of established asparagus beds. "instead of harvesting all the spears as they emerge from the soil, allow three large spears per crown to grow ferns," Nardozzi says. "by leaving 3 spears, the crown is constantly fed through photosynthesis in the ferns. you can harvest asparagus weeks longer than normal - right into august in zone 6." Once the diameter of the new spears becomes smaller than a pencil width, stop harvesting and allow the foliage to develop.