Anyone have asparagus yet?

GWN wrote:LOL CC

wait some more and add some more

     Isn't that gardening..... hurry up and wait

or not...


Where there's a will there's a way!  Just got back from the store. This is the only way I'll be getting any asparagus this year!
  

CC

Just saw my first spear starting to poke up yesterday afternoon, planted two year old crowns last year, so may be able to get a light harvest this year.  The varieties in my bed are purple passion and marry washington. For now I'm just hoping for the warming weather to stick and a little moisture.

but we have tiny, I mean TEENY, little asparagus shoots coming up from our Purple Passion that "aren't supposed to grow here." Just about 5 out of 40 plants and I could not even see them.  My grandson and friend could.  10 days after planting.  Huzzay!  This bodes well.

I'm thinking first spears some time this week, just took my soil temp it was ~51F in the asparagus bed (only receives 1/2 day sun and has a deep layer of straw on it).

I have been picking mine for about a month now. This is their 3rd year and the first year i have picked it.  Mine is in a giant wheel (tractor) and it is on the south side of my house. I just snap em off as I am going in the back door.  I only get a couple a day but put them in a ziploc bag full of water and in the fridge until I have enough to eat.   It is soooooooo much better than store bought !!!  

I think I have a spot picked for an asparagus bed.

Before I go building, anyone doing/done asparagus in high temp low humidity environments?  Do you find they prefer more sun or less sun in that situation?

Fresno, CA is also hot and dry in the summer. I'm curious, also. I know artichokes are planted here but that's a big plant for a small yard.

First harvest! I picked about 7 spears. They just sprang up over 2 days. This is from a bed planted last year, 2 year crowns, I think. Anyway, it looks like there are a bunch more to come. I will post pictures, when I figure out how to. Also "harvested" this morning my first barrel of rain water. This was the first rain since installation. The weather report said we had .15 inch of rain, and the barrel was filled absolutely to the top. I think the garden plants are going to like non-clorinated water.

nope....nada....nothing....still.....boohoo.....

happy gardening
rose

Rose
I don't know what your temps are but if you have a compost thermometer you can see if your  soil has reached 50 degrees.  I got antsy when mine reached 48 degrees and saw nothing. 
Doggone it, asparagus at least in my yard insists on 50 and won't budge a degree sooner.

Any one from hot zones with experience growing asparagus so Brainchasm can decide what to do with that spot?

llama momma wrote:Rose
I don't know what your temps are but if you have a compost thermometer you can see if your  soil has reached 50 degrees.  I got antsy when mine reached 48 degrees and saw nothing. 
Doggone it, asparagus at least in my yard insists on 50 and won't budge a degree sooner.

I will get right on that LLM!!

its cold & wet today here in our Familygardens....we will see what the ground says   

hugs
rose

First spear poked through the ground today!  Ready for the feast this spring!

Definitely hot hot hot here where I live. We are in our 4th consecutive year of drought.   Sooooo I planted my asparagus inside a giant metal wheel.  Used mostly sand, peat moss, and a little potting soil. It is on the south side of my house and gets watered a couple times a week.   I dont know about anyone else but I have had good luck so far.

I've been covering my asparagus beds with a moving blanket most nights lately.  It hit 25F here this morning!  I think the spears are sensitive to cold.

At any rate, I have some beautiful, large spears coming up, which should be edible in a few more days to a week.

Perfect for my new asparagus steamer!

How long did it take everyone's asparagus plants to show up right after they were first planted? I haven't seen hide nor hair of mine and its going into 3 weeks. I'm getting worried.

Last year, I think it took mine around two months to appear.

started showing after 11 days and almost all of it is showing after 3 weeks.  Collin puts little sticks where each crown is planted.  And his cat, Lucy, thinks it is the best darned litter box.  Arggghhhh.

For the cats' interference, try upside-down plastic forks (tines up), about five per square foot.

CC
When I planted crowns last year it seemed everybody's came up before mine. I hope your temperatures are staying warm enough to get them going, also hope there is moisture down there and the crowns are good and healthy.  
I mapped out every crown planted and so far the 26 crowns that were purchased from a farm have all survived and are growing well. Another 12 were impulse purchases from a big box store and not many of those seemed to have survived or are very slow to return.  At this time I have counted over 80 sprouts and most are about a foot tall or so.

llama momma wrote:CC
When I planted crowns last year it seemed everybody's came up before mine. I hope your temperatures are staying warm enough to get them going, also hope there is moisture down there and the crowns are good and healthy.  
I mapped out every crown planted and so far the 26 crowns that were purchased from a farm have all survived and are growing well. Another 12 were impulse purchases from a big box store and not many of those seemed to have survived or are very slow to return.  At this time I have counted over 80 sprouts and most are about a foot tall or so.

oh yes, we have lots of moisture! It's the good and healthy part that I'm concerned about. They came in bags from the Netherland Bulb company, and were packed in wood shavings. Some of the roots had mold on them and some roots had dried out tips. Per the Victory Garden book, I trimmed off the dried and moldy parts before putting them into water to soak for a bit prior to planting. I just don't know if they were any good to begin with.
I've got my fingers crossed.  I know the nursery where I purchased them will honor my word if there's a problem since they know me. I'll just wait another month or so before I go to them.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.  It's good to have a nice relationship with the nursery.  

llama momma wrote:Rose
I don't know what your temps are but if you have a compost thermometer you can see if your  soil has reached 50 degrees.  I got antsy when mine reached 48 degrees and saw nothing. 
Doggone it, asparagus at least in my yard insists on 50 and won't budge a degree sooner.

took our asparagus bed temperature and it was a tad bit over 50   still nothing

hugs
rose who needs to decide what to plant in the asparagus bed if no asparagus comes up....

Hmmmm.  If you and CC both lose your asparagus then it makes me wonder why 26 farm bought crowns survived the brutal cold in my yard.  To me the new 2013 asparagus bed should have been just as vulnerable as yours. 

 It looks like a second purchase (box store) bought on impulse mostly died, that's 11 out of 12 dead,  yet last year those all sprouted right through spring, summer, and fall.   

Both farm bought and big box store crowns went in a one foot deep box, top half Mel's Mix, bottom half was aged llama beans pounded into a hard layer of material.  I think it was early to mid Fall when the bed was topped off with a loose layer of aged llama beans. 

What saved the remaining crowns? One foot deep bed? Manure? Good home made compost in Mels Mix? Better quality crowns from a farm?  I'll never know.  Just thought I'd share what was done and what exactly survived and died.  Side note, I read about topping off asparagus with aged manure from an article in Mother Earth News.  Maybe some of this will help someone else.  

CC, just be patient with those crowns.  IIRC, it took mine quite some time to poke out of the ground when I first planted them.    Remember that the crowns have a lot of work to do before they begin to send out spears.   I suppose you could carefully dig down where you know they should be and see if you see anything, but I wouldn't worry yet.

And as far as seeing anything from established beds, I imagine that *I'll* probably end up with the dubious distinction of being the last to see spears.  Mine are always late.