About Asparagus
Forum Archives
growsherown
Location: Olympic Peninsula
Posted: Mar-23-2004 at 8:50am
Hiya fellow "wet-enders!" So glad to have finally found a site that is area specific for the PacNW! Tnx again to "sparklemama" for the heads up!
Nice to meet you all! My name is Jil...aka "growsherown" and I'm out here in Shelton, WA, near the capital city of Olympia. Im a 36 yr old homemaker, mother of 2, and an avid gardener...(at least I think I am... lol). I have vege gardens, fruit trees,berries, herbs, and the ever increasing scattered flower beds. Somewhat of a rookie in my little greenhouse, I cant wait to start throwin seeds!!
My ? is regarding growing asparagus. This will be my first attempt at it. I have a bed being built now just for asparagus, and I would appreciate any info on construction, soil, planting, fertilizing and harvesting.
If y'all dont mind my brain picking, just drop me an email, or an IM..kk??
Looking forward to meeting you! What a great site!
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Mar-23-2004 at 9:59am
Hiya backatcha, Jill!
We'd rather people post answers here on Rainy Side, instead of private email or IM, so that all of us can learn. It means you have to check in for the answers but hey, we're a likable bunch so that ain't bad.
Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. - Lou Erickson.
Wanda
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Mar-23-2004 at 12:58pm
I'm looking forward to the answers to your questions. I have tried asparagus twice and failed and I think I'm ready to try again. I understand you can't harvest it the first year and minimally the second but mine died right off so it wasn't a problem waiting! Advise, please, all you veggie people! -Wanda
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Mar-23-2004 at 6:20pm
Debbie's former partner on this site, Travis Saling, has a good article from 1998, I think, and she may put up the link.
The problem is that it is a perennial and takes some years to get to a harvestable crop. You need to treat it as you might a fruit tree (I don’t do flowers). Long term location and “wait” to pick the crop.
Another great source is Steve Solomon’s, “Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades”, which Deb has in her books links.
Gary
Olympia Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Mar-23-2004 at 7:17pm
Doh, why didn't I think of Travis's site! Good suggestion, Gary.
Here's Travis's wonderful article on Growing asparagus
And for loads of books on edibles, including Steve Solomon's well respected book, check out Rainy Side's book shelf
Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. - Lou Erickson.
growsherown
Location: Olympic Peninsula
Posted: Mar-24-2004 at 12:45pm
Wow! Thank you so much, guyz! Some great info here! Im so glad I posted my ? on your site....LOVE this place! Off to the bookshelf......
Happy gardening!
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Mar-24-2004 at 2:13pm
One other thing about growing asparagus that you may want to know that will be hard to find unless Deb or Lisa look up some 2002 or 2003 archives.
That is what kind of yield can you expect? I have a friend with 150 row feet of plants on about 18" centers (3 feet between rows). He gets an average of about 15 spears per year per row foot. This is over a 6-8 week harvest cycle and on 10 and 15 year old beds.
At the peak of the season, we can pick a spear every two row feet every two days. So to eat 10 spears per person every two days needs 20 row feet per person.
You won't have to eat that often if you remmeber that the plant is in the lily family. Cut the end off like you would a flower, stand it in some water in a qt. jar and place in the refrigerator. This will allow say five days between meals.
But not between pickings because when the temps hit 70, you can watch the asparagus grow. Two days too late on the harvest and you'll have 3 foot ferns instead of one foot stalks.
Asparagus is another of those vegetables you may never eat again if it travels more than 10 miles to your kitchen. Be warned but by mid-May, its time to pig out on the new peas anyway.
Gary
Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
growsherown
Location: Olympic Peninsula
Posted: Mar-25-2004 at 6:36am
Wow Gary....tnx for the input! I was just hoping to grow a small patch at first. I would just like to have a few each year for pickling.
Usually, in the vege gardens, I make a few "pickling runs" to see what all I can cram into a jar and brine....like a mixed pickle kind of thing.....would be nice to be able to add some "aspergas" (as my kids call it..lol)
Tnx for the info!
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Mar-25-2004 at 10:17am
Unfortunately, with the change over to Rainy Side's new forum software, we no longer have access to old forum entries. There was a lot of good info but it wasn't always an easy search to find it, even when we had access to it. We had to rely on our memory (not always reliable!) of when something was posted and then go back page by page to find it. I love our search feature with this forum software!
Thanks for posting the info, Gary, for Growsherown.
Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. - Lou Erickson.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Apr-29-2004 at 1:32pm
What's it like to have a good mature asparagus bed? When the season comes, like this week, you'll be cutting one spear per row foot every three days. But you'll need to cut every two days because they grow that fast.
Tomorrow I cut my friends bed and get his total so far this year to about 600 spears, most in last seven days. Last year we didn't start cutting until April 26th. The earliest cutting has been on April 8th.
As I mentioned in another thread, mulching helps slow the soil warm up each spring so the spears don't come up too early and get frozen if you're in a cold spot.
Gary
Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
growsherown
Location: Olympic Peninsula
Posted: May-04-2004 at 10:16am
Well......*UPDATE*......Things change in my garden as fast as my mind does.....LOL.....I have decided, (due to limited space and the time in years that it takes to grow good asparagus), Im going to use the bed for artichokes instead. The space is quite small, and I dont think it would be a good idea. Maybe next year I can put in a bigger bed for it.
Tnx again for all the advice!
Red Hare
Location: Oregon coast
Posted: May-04-2004 at 10:22am
Some of my asparagus has gotten away from me and is now 4' tall and leggy, but I've been grazing on the tender ends. I just snap off a few as I'm walking by and, after a quick check for unanticipated protein, munch away. Very tasty. I'm thinking about snipping off a handful of these tips and taking them into the kitchen and giving them a quick saute in a little butter or olive oil, with a bit of lemon and maybe garlic.
Has anyone else "salvaged" some asparagus this way? Maybe that's one more advantage to growing your own - you get to experiment with different stages and parts of the plants.
"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do." - P. J. O'Rourke.
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: May-21-2004 at 11:39am
Red Hare, Have you tried it yet? Sounds interesting. Mine are starting to get less huge in diameter, tapering down. When they begin to get too tall and too many, I cut them off at ground level, then snap off the less tender part and freeze them.The are still better than the commercially frozen ones.
Carol
gary Rainy Side Gardener
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: May-21-2004 at 5:53pm
Asparagus is in the lily family. As with all perennials, remember that you need to leave something (ferns) to gather the sun's energy for next year's growth. Once the spears get to pencil size, let them go to ferns!
Gary
Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-09-2004 at 5:46pm
With a little luck in the weather tomorrow, "Grows and Sparkle" will get to visit my friend's 15/25 year old aaparagus bed and see what a little weeding discipline can do for you.
Gary
Sunset Zone 5, USDA Zone 8
growsherown
Location: Olympic Peninsula
Posted: Jun-11-2004 at 9:53pm
Awe man........you wouldnt believe how sorry I am to have missed that, G!
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