Guru4gardens

If there is one season I look forward to it is the “asparagus “season.
The only drawback is that it takes up space in the garden as once imbedded the plants can produce for 15-20 years. A small price to pay for the delicious homegrown spears well covered in butter! For a six to eight week period in the spring, the taste buds spoilt even if the hips are not!

Asparagus can planted from seed if you have the patience to wait two or three years before they produce enough for a meal. Asparagus seedlings need to spend two years in the seedbed before they are mature enough for planting in the garden where they are to spend the rest of their life. Asparagus has male and female plants, the male producing the bigger spears.
Buy one and two-year-old asparagus crowns from nurseries to bypass the long wait for seedlings to mature. Avoiding the damaged crowns, use the one-year-old crowns if you are prepared to wait as the two-year-old plants may not transplant as well as the one-year-olds.

The site to suit the Asparagus is likely to have a hedge or fence to protect the plants from the wind. A sunny position is best but asparagus does tolerate some shade but there may be some reduction in yields.
Before planting prepare the soil and dig trenches, add fertilizer and organic manure or compost. They are partial to a sandy moist soil that has had plenty of fertilizer and organic matter added.
To plant the crowns make small mounds putting the crown on top of the mounds and spreading the roots over and around them allow approximately 60 cms between plants.
Cover the plants with two inches of soil and water the plants in. As the plants or shoots appear gradually, fill the trench with soil but do not cover the new shoots. By the time the trenches are filled in the plants are growing in ridges that are six inches high.

Water regularly over the summer and maintain fertilizer dressings of high nitrogen content. That encourages vigorous growth. Late autumn, early winter cut back the dead and dry ferns.
It is best to resist cutting the spears in the first spring following planting; however, the third year is the time to start harvesting. Over harvesting is likely to reduce yields the next year. Pick only the fat stems and leave the thinner ones to enrich the plants for the future. Once beds are three or four years old, you will be able to pick and enjoy asparagus every day or two for quite some time.

Should your harvest be excessive, the spears keep well in the crisper of the refrigerator. For long term storage freeze the spears, cutting off the woody part of the stem. Sort in to sizes thin, medium, and large. Blanching time for the various sizes are two minutes for thin, three minutes for medium and four minutes for the larger stalks. Freeze flat to enable easy use later in the year.