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Asparagus

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:22 am
by tinnerjohn
Spring is here. Had my first batch of asparagus last night. Since the patch is small, I'm glad my lovely wife doesn't care for it. Now for the $64 question. I remember Dad salting the ground of the patch we had to kill the grass and weeds. He said it also was good for the plant. Just can"t remember if we did it while the plants were growing or dormant, and unfortunately hes not here to ask. Hope every one has a good year with gardens and truck patches, field crops if you have them. After the last two years. this will be a good one. John

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:52 am
by dgrapes59
John,

This was discussed a while back in a thread that covered over 3 years, here is a thread, it covered a lot of ground:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=33869&hilit=asparagus

I am interested in recent replies as well, I have a nice bed at my place in NE that the neighbor usually harvests when we are not there. The bed usually ends up with as many weeds, if not more, than asparagus! :( I will be there next week and am hopeful I will get to enjoy some fresh asparagus. :D

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:45 pm
by tinnerjohn
Thanks David. Looks like I've got some reading to do. I did the forum search before I posted, but I guess I didn't go back far enough before I went crosseyed. I started my patch with some plants I dug from my Dad's when we sold the house. I never had any luck with the roots I bought several times, but the old plants took hold and the seed that drops in the fall has started too. Just hard to resist cutting the new plants! John

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:20 pm
by BigMatt
My asparagus has been going crazy, and I ate some early shoots, but I am letting it grow again this year so we will have a great crop next year. I am fertilizing the heck out of it too.

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 5:54 pm
by Buzzard Wing
It does like my saltwater breezes.... (my trucks don't). Can't hurt. My plants are 20 years old (from Miller Nurseries). You want male plants, supposedly ones from seeds are no good (also not deep enough). I should fill in the bald spots. It is the best thing you can plant in my opinion, truly a lazy man's crop!

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:17 pm
by Joe Malinowski
This is a great place to get roots from http://www.noursefarms.com/ My town Hadley Ma has a reputation for having some of the best aspargus in the world. Many years ago it was wiped out by a blight. There are many new beds in town the farmer who leases some land from me has asked about putting in some on my land and asked for a long term rental agreement, sounds good to me.

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:39 am
by v w
Buzzard Wing wrote:It does like my saltwater breezes.... (my trucks don't). Can't hurt. My plants are 20 years old (from Miller Nurseries). You want male plants, supposedly ones from seeds are no good (also not deep enough). I should fill in the bald spots. It is the best thing you can plant in my opinion, truly a lazy man's crop!

I might take issue with it being a lazy mans crop. I'm getting older and the ground seems to be farther down each year. Plants from seed just take longer. They are normally started in a greenhouse, transplanted to a bed for a year, then dug to use as year old crowns. I wouldn't use anything but year old crowns from the jersey series. Warmer climes maybe UC78. Asparasgus and rhubarb both give fresh food early in the spring and are hard to go wrong or at least around here. ENJOY! Vern

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:05 am
by Buzzard Wing
Oh yeah, lazy man's favorite! I planted my crowns about 20 years ago.... occasionally fertilize, but mostly just top dress with composted cow manure (more to kill the weeds) and cut the tops with hedge shears at the end of winter. The lawn around the bed takes far more effort! Oh yeah, harvesting takes some effort, I leave a knife out there. Not enough for a meal yet, but the tester has been sampling :D

You want MALE plants, planted deep and the best way is from root crowns from a reputable source... BTW Joe, your neighbor is sold out of Jersey Knight. 25 crowns for $20 is surely cheap enough!

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:00 pm
by Buzzard Wing
Fresh from the big city.... these crowns are over 20 years old.... enough for dinner.
Image

Re: Asparagus

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:07 pm
by John *.?-!.* cub owner
dgrapes59 wrote:John,

This was discussed a while back in a thread that covered over 3 years, here is a thread, it covered a lot of ground:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=33869&hilit=asparagus

I am interested in recent replies as well, I have a nice bed at my place in NE that the neighbor usually harvests when we are not there. The bed usually ends up with as many weeds, if not more, than asparagus! :( I will be there next week and am hopeful I will get to enjoy some fresh asparagus. :D
To add to that thread, The man that used to get salt form us at the softener store always bought coarse rock salt, and always bought it in the early spring, so I assume that is when he used it.