SFG Asparagus?

I'd like to put asparagus (Jersey Knight) in a SFG. Would like to know how it worked out for others? I think I'm going to have to put a plywood bottom on it. At what point during the growing season (Zone 5) does it push out the tall ferny leaves? Thanks for your help.

Your box will have to be a lot deeper than 6".
Even Jersey Knight crowns have to be buried 6" deep to begin and that means the roots are going to go down a heck of a lot deeper than that.
I really don't think a plywood bottom is going to work.

Maybe someone who has tried it can give you better advice.

Thanks for the help. I've been on the fence about asparagus in a SFG. I know it was in Mel's book - he said dedicate an entire box to it. I'm in the process of converting my row gardens to SFGs and I have garlic in the ground in the spot I wanted to put the asparagus. Maybe I'll just wait awhile on that one

I want to plant asparagus to and really don't want to dedicate a whole box to it. I have been planning on planting it in ammended soil. I'm not sure how long asparagus lives but I know that you don't get a harvest until at least a year or 2 after it's planted so I don't want to dedicate a whole box for that. My 2 cents.

What if you make a smaller box (2x2, 2x3) just for the asparagus so that you don't have to give it too much real estate as you start out?

I've had an " Asparagus Patch" growing in a big pot for @ 5 years now. I'm the only one in our household that likes asparagus, and I get several servings for one off this big potfull. I would really like to have a dedicated bed, maybe 2x4 or 6, and at least 18 to 20 inches deep, maybe with an open bottom so the roots can go on down if they choose. But for now the pot is all I have. Down here in the Panhandle the crowns die down only during the coldest part of Jan-Feb and then sprout right back out towards the end of Feb.

An asparagus patch can live 15-20 years so once its put in place, it'll have to stay put.
I'm going to have a patch in the long raised bed I have beyond my lumbered raised beds. No sides to it, just raised up in a hill with the hoe. That bed has been growing potatoes in the past and last year some summer squash and cucumbers. This year it'll have Jersey Knigts planted in it.

This is the raised berm on the left of the my raised beds. I covered it with plastic to help warm up the soil quicker. I'll plant the asparagus in the front. What I don't use for the 20 asparagus crowns I ordered, I'll use for zucchini this year.

Square 1 wrote:I'd like to put asparagus (Jersey Knight) in a SFG. Would like to know how it worked out for others? I think I'm going to have to put a plywood bottom on it. At what point during the growing season (Zone 5) does it push out the tall ferny leaves? Thanks for your help.

Howdy Square 1:

Asparagus roots run VERY deep. As deep as 10 feet and sometimes more. We are in year 3 with our asparagus bed and it is just now starting to pay off. Once established you can get harvests from your bed for many, many years. Do not harvest the first year, harvest sparingly the second year and year 3 and beyond are banner years.

God Bless, Ward and Mary.

As Quiltbea said it needs a lot of depth just to plant plus however deep the roots go down from there. To me it is something not to grow in a SFG that is done by the book. A raised bed garden mite be ok, It loves nourishment steadily applied, we put salt in and around it to keep weeds down. WardinWake nailed it about waiting to begin your harvest. My regular bed of asparagus is at least 10 years old and is giving very good production. It does slowly spread and the tops get abouut six feet tall and quite bushy in the fall. Here in NE Iowa we quit harvesting about mid June to let the tops grow making stronger roots for next years production. The tops we cut off at freeze up time. Beside my "row" bed in my garden we also hunt ditch asparagus in the country. Most years we pull in well over a hundred pounds from country road ditches. Some of those country side patches have been there as long as can be remembered and are over six feet around and more. We make maps of where they are located and scout the green fern tops in the fall just after frost has dropped most other weeds. I now have a habit of looking for wild asparagus every time I drive in the country. I truly love asparagus but my vote would be for saving the work and expense and grow it in a more conventional way not SFG, many other things are better suited for the SFG concept. I'll duck while you all reply to that. Do any of you remember Euell Gibbons book "Stalking The Wild Asparagus" about living off the land.

Thanks for all the insight this is a great forum. I did know that asparagus would last up to 20 years. This is our 1st SFG year and my original intent was to grow asparagus in an amended raised bed. I was concerned about the placement due to the height of the tops. Maybe I'll put them in a completely different location in the backyard and see if I can keep my dog out! Last year she managed to move the fence and ate my watermelons and cantelope clean! Even snuck off with a green pepper. She was nice enough to pick them off the vine.

I LOVE asparagus. Always have.

I bought some young plants this week.

The first thing I read in Mel's book is how they take 3 years to have a real crop and they plants are huge! Like 3SF? MAN!

Which pretty much knocks them out of my plan...I think.

Maybe I can find a 'common section' to grow them in...or grow them in my little patio spot (14SF)...

Who's growing them and how do you do it?

I put mine in last year in a permanent berm (built-up soil bed without lumber) since they'll be in one place for the next 20 years.



Here's the trenches partially refilled on April 29 last year. The white buckets have the removed soil that I will be putting back as the plants grow.



The same bed on May 31st after refilling the beds. I hope to get a few small ones this year but don't really expect much til next year.

Thank you Bea! Looks great!

So, if they grow so deep...do the roots raise the surrounding dirt?

I'm really torn on this one...we plan to be here about 7 or 8 more years. The only real spot I can grow them is in my 14sf patio bed. May not be the most slightly thing to have to show a home. (My neighbor grows sugar and it is a 15' dry corn looking plant. I just love his dry palms peeling off in my patio )

I'm concerned if the roots will break the patio slab or walls & sidewalk on the other sides.

The previous owners had a two ficus trees planted together like one in what is now my rose bed. It split the slab about 3' out from where it was. Didn't hurt the wall or the sidewalk...I guess our patios are thinner than the walk

I believe asparagus likes it a bit cooler, ..... at least cooler winters?? ava, do you have cold winters?
I am growing it, bought plants AND grew from seed last year, so perhaps I might get some this year.

You dig down into the soil making a deep trench to plant your asparagus plant and then cover with a few inches of soil. As the plant grows, you add more soil around it refilling the trench. The plant does not move the soil up around itself. You have to do the work. That's why folks don't plant them in raised beds. They have to start them down too deep and then the roots themselves grow down even deeper. Some varieties have to be buried 12" deep (Washington series) at the beginning, some only 6" (Jersey Knight) so you have to be careful which you have and what is needed.

AvaD, Suggestion that may solve your problem with planting asparagus now, and taking it with you when you move, if that's your plan. Call around to household appliance sales and repair outfits and ask if they have any pierced tubs from old-style washers and if you could save them a salvage fee and take it off their hands. If you score one, dig a hole deep enough to sink it in uip to its rim, fill with dirt and MM, plant your asparagus roots in it and wait for the harvest. When you move, dig up your roots and go. You could even pull up the tub, empty it and take it with you to the new place. (I have one such pierced tub planted with tulip bulbs so moles/voles cannot get to them.) Nonna

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:AvaD, Suggestion that may solve your problem with planting asparagus now, and taking it with you when you move, if that's your plan. Call around to household appliance sales and repair outfits and ask if they have any pierced tubs from old-style washers and if you could save them a salvage fee and take it off their hands. If you score one, dig a hole deep enough to sink it in uip to its rim, fill with dirt and MM, plant your asparagus roots in it and wait for the harvest. When you move, dig up your roots and go. You could even pull up the tub, empty it and take it with you to the new place. (I have one such pierced tub planted with tulip bulbs so moles/voles cannot get to them.) Nonna

BRILLIANT! Movable and contained roots, all in one.

I know we hit hardpack pretty quick. I'll have to see how far down that is.

Thank you Nonna!

I have a dedicated 2X6 box for asparagus and it has been great for us. In an effort to save a lot of money, I started from seed-yes, from seed. If I knew how to upload a picture on this forum I could show you what it looked like at the end of year one-it was like a huge fern. For $1.99 I have all the asparagus I want. Well, not really because I planted the wrong kind. I used Mary Washington which tastes great, but it is not as prolific as Jersey Night, which I have slowly added to my box. We have loved our asparagus plot. My box is about 8" high.

Here ya go snibb:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t129-how-to-post-a-picture-located-on-your-computer

Even with the wash bucket, I think I may have to wait to live further north. I live in 10b, and the coldest it gets is usually mid 40s at night, with a 30+ degree swing for a daytime high.

I also don't think I can go down that deep. It is maybe a foot to hard pan...and it is like digging through hard flat rock.

Living in a greened over desert has definite drawbacks besides Alkaline & high salt soil!

I have one picture of what my asparagus bed looked like after the first summer of growing from seed. Instead of posting a picture(too much work for me right now)you can go to my website to look at it.....it's been a very good producer for us, but I still wished I would have used Jersey Knight-it would be even better but it will give you an idea: http://thewealthyearth.com

Your asparagus ferns are lovely. Did you cut them back in the winter or wait for spring to cut back any stems? This will be my 2nd spring and I'm wondering how I should handle the plants.

or per 1 square foot?