Growing Asparagus

This page provides instructions and photos on Growing Asparagus (asparagus officinalis). Vegetable Gardening Made Easier is using the Jersey Knight as its model.

I have never tried growing asparagus so this will be new territory for me. But I like learning new things.

The Jersey Knight is low in calories, contains no cholesterol and is very low in sodium. It is also a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and zinc.

It is a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium.

The steam is the part that is harvested and eaten. When cut, this plant will continue to grow back making it a good source of food. The Jersey Knight is a female plant.

It has a tender taste and can be eaten raw, cooked or dried for eating later. I have even seen some pickled asparagus. I must admit that I have not eaten much asparagus myself.

01-14-2010

Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that can thrive for 15 years or more. It likes a sunny or only partially shaded spot richly fertilized with compost or aged manure and limed to a pH of 7.0 or higher.

If planting immature plants, space crowns 8 inches apart for slender spears to 14 inches apart for thick spears in a trench 6-8 inches below ground level. Space rows 3-5 feet apart. Keep free of weeds and irrigate.

To fill trench, add soil 3 times during the first few weeks as the plants grow, ending with a slight mound to prevent puddles. Heavy hay, straw, or leaf mulch may be applied in mid-summer.

The "ferns" that grow feed the roots; don't cut them back until they die naturally in the fall. Apply additional compost or aged manure each fall or early spring.

Sow seeds indoors 12-14 weeks before transplanting out after the danger of frost has passed. Jersey Knight has a germination rate of about 89% so I would sow one seed in a 3 Inch Round Dot Pot at a depth of about 3/4 of an inch. To properly germinate the seeds, keep the heat at about 80 degrees. I like using the round dot pots since I can start my plants, then drop the whole pot into a hole. I do not have to remove the plant and disturb the root system when transplanting. It is also fast and convenient.

Plant the seedlings fourteen inches apart in rows three feet apart. If a slender asparagus is desired plant them eight inches apart.

The new bed of growing asparagus will be ready for moderate harvest a year after planting, and full harvest every mid-late spring thereafter for many years. Harvest by cutting spears one inch below the soil.

Asparagus can be blanched and frozen, canned or stored for three weeks at a temperature of 32 degrees.

Spend time preparing your asparagus bed. Separate it from your vegetable plot because asparagus foliage will shade adjacent vegetables. Asparagus prefers a sunny, well-drained location and a soil pH of 7.0-8.0.

In early spring, apply compost, aged manure, or complete fertilizer and work well into the soil. Add lime if necessary to raise pH to at least 7.0—asparagus requires a "sweet" soil.

Every fall or early spring add more compost or aged manure to your asparagus bed. Again keep well weeded and watered. Avoid damaging any emerging shoots.

Test the pH at least every two years and add lime if needed.During your second season after planting, you can pick a moderate harvest from your asparagus bed in the spring.

During the second season you can harvest Growing Asparagus for four weeks; by the third season you can harvest for six to eight weeks again choosing the finger sized or larger shoots.

Always maintain good growing conditions after harvest, keeping the bed weed- and insect-free. Do not remove any ferns until they die naturally in the fall.

Leave the ferns tall in winter or cut to 12" in the late fall when they brown. This will catch snow for a natural mulch. With a little care you should enjoy an asparagus bed for many years.

7-30-2011

Well our asparagus is finally ready to be harvested as you can see in the pictures below. We harvested them, cooked them up and ate them. They tasted great.

7-13-2011

Below is a picture of our asparagus. From what I have learned it is growing as it should. Next year, about spring time, we should be getting a lot of asparagus.

At this point it is about the only thing I have growing. Most everything else has succumbed to the heat and drought we are having.

October 15, 2010

Below is a picture of what the Asparagus looks like as a seedling. To me they look like little pine trees. I direct planted these.

If I understand correctly, it will be 2012 before I can expect to harvest from these plants. Growing Asparagus will be a long process.

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