Re: asparagus is up

AvaDGardner 3/28/2012, 7:25 pm

I can't believe how fast they grow!

I saw 3 little spears coming up on Saturday (photo in my thread). On Monday there were 5. Today they are nearly double in the length (in a day or two the size of the OP's photo).

I planted 8 "jersey hybrid" 2-yo crowns from WalMart on 3/6. They were dry and I soaked them overnight (because I forgot they were soaking!).

Zing Pow! This is great!

I cut 3 big artichokes this morning...tonight's treat!

Ava

quiltbea 3/29/2012, 10:45 am

Don't pick the spears the first year. Leave them to make foliage for next year's crops. You'll get better results next year.

Thornesworld 3/29/2012, 3:37 pm

I let my roots feed themselves for 2 full years! It was agony, but it's been soooo worth it for the last 5 years. I also allow a few slender spears to go to fern during the growing/harvesting season to help feed spear production and add a little coolness and beauty to the bed.

quiltbea 3/29/2012, 4:23 pm

Thornesworld.....That's a good idea. The 2nd year you really don't want to harvest anything less than thick as your finger anyway and the 3rd year only those finger-sized but only for 2-4 weeks tops, not for longer. The plants are still establishing themselves. The 4th year there will be 6-8 weeks in which you can harvest asparagus, until it gets hot and they come up thin and spindly.

Thornesworld 3/29/2012, 11:49 pm

These beds were planted in 2005-6, so I've been getting lovely harvests for years now. The bummer is that a couple of years ago I put some insufficiently composted horse manure in the beds and they are overrun with Bermuda Grass. This December I'm going to move all my crowns (and pray a lot!)

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