Every year I wish I had an asparagus patch and every year I fail to plant one.
I kept coming up with excuses. Don’t have the right spot, it’s too expensive, they take too long to get established.
If I planted asparagus the first year I realized I wanted some we would have been enjoying asparagus for the past hundred years. Or something like that.
Finally did do it, though. Something about how if I never did it I never would have done it.
I think Einstein said that.
25 crowns of Milennium.
It’s possible I may have picked that variety because of a weakness for Steig Larsson. Says a lot about the precise research that goes into my garden choices.
They’re located in a bed started last year lasagna-style, so it had plenty of mulched leaves, grass clippings, and manure. I added some cotton burr compost, greensand, and bone meal before planting.
Covered them over with a couple inches of soil and will continue to cover them as they grow.
I’ll still have to buy it at the market for a couple of years but at least it’s on its way. Finally.
Tell me about your asparagus (or asparagus dreams).
Sweet! We’re also putting in asparagus for the first time this year. I hadn’t seen the crowns before, so I’m glad I’ve seen yours so I’ll know what to expect!
This will be our first year also – good luck all! I’m going with Jersey Knight in one patch and Purple Passion in another.
I planted it last year- had NO IDEA that asparagus was a fern! Or quite how tall it would get since you have to let it grow without harvesting. But, the good news is it is coming back! I have about 6 tiny little spears so far (I bought it in plant form and planted 2 plants).
I can’t wait to be able to eat some!
Unfortunately I’m not able to start an asparagus bed this year, but some of my fondest memories from childhood are of asparagus. My dad would take me on day long expeditions in the heat of August; we would tramp around fields for hours & hours, coming home with literally pounds of green spears. Often we would each take a large brown paper grocery bag, and it was a bad day if each of them was only half full.
It is still one of my favorite vegetables, and I can’t wait til I’m able to grow my own. Good luck on your bed!
Very easy to grow. Around here it grows wild in ditches. I even have seedlings pop up in the flower bed in the front yard. Watch for japanese beetles once you let it go to seed each year. If the stems are tough – which can be the case if you let them get too big – you can peel them like carrots before cooking.
Many years ago my family stayed with my aunt, who grew asparagus. It was so good. Congratulations on starting yours.
I adore asparagus and when i got a bit more land last year decided I would plant a bed. I didn’t buy anywhere near as many crowns as you but i was quite pleased with myself. However one thing led to another and so they sat for a long time before i manged to get them planted and i fear that throughout this time they died. This year I am playing wait and see to find out if i will have to buy more crowns. The good news is things are a lot more organised this year so I know that if I have to buy more I will be able to get them straight in the ground without too much effort!!
My parents used to grow it organically and, once established, it was an easy crop to grow. They had it in a tunnel house so they got a better return for it, being earlier than the field asparagus.
Growing up, I didn’t know you could buy asparagus in the store. The family would go down by the river and pick pounds of asparagus, then come home, have a thorough pat-down for ticks, and sit down to a meal of creamed asparagus on toast. My grandmother also had a huge patch in her garden. I haven’t been able to find any to forage in the DC Metro region, so Hubby and I have been going round and round about me wanting asparagus and him not wanting to dig the trenches. I’ll wear him down one of these years!
We love asparagus and I wanted to plant some when we lived in town, alas no room. When we moved to the country we wanted to plant some- voila a friend wanted to build a garage right where a 40+ yr old bed of asparagus was- asked if we wanted it- why yes of course WE DO, long story short 4, 50ft beds of lovely asparagus. I can remember when we lived up North my brother came home with some asparagus and my Mom asked where he got it- found it growing in a field, later we found out it was a small asparagus farm located in our neighborhood disguised as a weedy field. The ferns are lovely to see swaying in the wind during the summer.
Still dreams here. Two years ago my BF bought 100+ roots at a 1/2 price sale from a local Mennonite greenhouse. They said they would last in the beer refrigerator until the following year because we didn’t have the time and it was too late in the season. The following year he had a severe back injury and they didn’t get planted. Luckily his aunt has about a 1/4 acre patch that we help pick and bring home what we want. I can’t wait to have some grilled fresh!!
We blanched and froze some last year but I don’t like it at all – too soggy like canned. Not bad in a casserole or quiche but I can’t eat it plain.
Yes! I took the challenge & started some from seeds. I’ll have to wait three more years before I can harvest, but it will so be worth the wait.
How delightful to watch and wait for your asparagus. One very yummy way to enjoy fresh asparagus is to drop it into a pan of boiling salted water for a few minutes and then run it under cold water to stop the cooking process and ensure it is not all limp and soggy. Yum, yum on bread or on its own.
Would never touch asparagus until Mom planted it when I was a teen; discovered how good fresh asparagus is! I would eat it raw, dipped into some ranch dressing.
When I moved in with my b/f and started a garden, I planted asparagus. B/f turned up his nose, and talked about how his parents boiled it until it was green mush. No problem, more for me! After watching me put fresh asparagus tips in my salads for a while, he decided to try a tiny bite of one. Now I have to share. 🙂
There was a patch of asparagus at my Grandparent’s place, on the river here in South Texas. It had a really short season every year, what with our intense heat, and hurricanes. I’ve always loved it, any way it came. Until about 15 years ago. I was working, and someone was headed to the grocery store across the highway, and asked if she could pick snacks up for everyone. Hmmmm, I would love a can of asparagus to snack on ! I ate it, never stopping work,(I’m an old florist, and it was a holiday), and soon, began scratching my head……then, my neck…….then, my face-holy cannoli ! What the……? My head, neck, and face were covered in hives !!!! Oh, the itching ! I’m amazed there was skin left. It finally went away, and we could NOT figure out what had caused it, I have no known allergies. Months later, I bought some fresh asparagus, and sauted and ate it. Oh no, the same reaction !!! Over the years, I have tried it raw, cooked, any way I could-same reaction. When I would get the craving, I got to where I’d glug some benedryl, and chomp away……until, a few years ago, my throat began to itch. No more yummy asparagus for me. snif. Why couldn’t it have been an allergy to something like……anchovies ????? 🙁
Ordered some crowns and waiting for their arriving! Still working on the field though.
I have been growing asparagus for twenty some years. We put in two rows that we trenched in with lots of compost. Each year I try to weed and mulch with compost. I use fish emulsion for fertilizer almost exclusively. My asparagus has been wonderful. However in the past two years the Japanese beetles have taken to it and they are not as lovely as in the past. I keep picking them off and putting them into a jar which I leave in the hot sun all day. Hate those bugs! I have eaten asparagus from the store but nothing comes close to the stuff you grown in your own yard.