by Alyse on Tuesday, December 7, 2010
It’s the time of year when my head is buzzing with ideas for next year’s veggie patch. The crop on my mind today is asparagus. It’s been growing for two years in a bed at the front edge of two half-barrels. My theory is this: if it’s spreading outward in front of the barrels, it must also be spreading in the other direction under the barrels, but it can’t sprout there be
cause the barrels are in the way. If I move the barrels, I should have twice the asparagus crop, right? Doubling the asparagus bed would take up a large space in my little garden so I need to interplant it with other crops that won’t interfere. I’m thinking leaf lettuce and small radishes. Besides being annual crops, they don’t have spreading or deep imposing roots so they should do fine. This is also a shady corner and none of these crops will mind a little shade.
It’s said that asparagus should be kept weed free to avoid crowding or stunting it’s growth, but when I was a kid I lived in a place where asparagus grew wild in a big open field. It produced just fine among the weeds and grasses with a bounty that feds all of the lucky locals who harvested it. It’s this asparagus memory that makes me believe sowing lettuce and radishes among it won’t stunt my asparagus at all. I guess we’ll find out.
by Alyse on Monday, April 26, 2010
I was passing by the garden the other day and I did a double take when this caught my eye. This is not an optical illusion. A 23.5 inch long asparagus spear showed up out of no where!
I’m new to growing asparagus or I should say growing asparagus is new to me so I don’t know exactly what occurs to cause this bit of garden magic but I know I’m pretty excited about it.
The two main rules I’ve followed in the asparagus bed are 1) Keep the weeds out. 2) Keep it watered well.
I’ve heard mixed theories on when you’re supposed to begin harvesting so I’ve begun to harvest this year which is year two but I’ve only cut every other spear as a compromise for those who say wait until year 3. I just can’t wait that long, it’s absurd.
by Alyse on Friday, March 26, 2010
The bad news is, the first year that you plant asparagus, you won’t harvest any. A few spindly little stalks will show up from the root starts you put in the ground which won’t even resemble asparagus and you have to leave them alone and let them grow unruly and tall like untended weeds in the middle of your perfectly groomed veggie patch (yeah right). The good news is, you only have to plant them once and by this time in the second year you’ll see these glorious little spears bursting out of the soil all over the place just like I found yesterday. 
Asparagus this fresh is like nothing you have had from the store and I’m looking forward to the harvest that continues from now through the early summer months in this region. I chose the Jersey Knight variety for it’s great “cropping potential” and its reputation for producing for up to 20 years! I see lots of asparagus in my future.
