Dawning of the Age of Asparagus

 

"Our Children... should enter adulthood with a basic knowledge of how to store food over winter without the cooperation of a nuclear power plant a hundred miles away. Every animal in the forest is taught this skill; we owe our children no less" - Jerry Minnich 

"Energy free food storage", Countryside

With the threat of frost in the next day or two, I decided to take advantage of the somewhat mild weather to get the asparagus planted. The garden beds were very much overgrown, not getting much use last summer when I was pregnant with the twins. So there was quite a bit of work to clear a spot for the plants that could very well be there for the next 20 years, and I had to bring in reinforcements. i.e My 3 year old daughter. She loves to plant things with Mama. She's on this kick right now were she has decided we will grow plums. I'm not sure where she got it from, but its all she talks about. And wouldn't you know it, the type of plum tree that would be best suited for our area, the French Prune, is sold out in MI. I might have to try and turn her onto something else. 

So there we are in the garden, I am pulling out weeds and she's pointing out every bug she sees and playing with my dandelion puller. I have never planted asparagus before, so I keep referring to my book "The Backyard Homestead" to re-read the planting instructions. Everything looked okay when I was finished so I feel confidant that I got it right. I was able to get 2 year crowns of Jersey Giant, and with this crazy weather we have had so far, maybe, just maybe, I might be able to get a few spears to try this year. We'll see how they do, they may just go right to the fern stage and I'll have to wait a whole year to harvest. You technically should wait a year from planting to harvest and only take about 1/3 of the spears the second year. But everything thing that said that was talking about 1 year crowns, and I was able to find 2 year crowns, so we will just have to see.  I won't be too disappointed if I have to wait until next year. 

Here is my step by step planting guide for how I planted the Jersey Giant Asparagus

Dig a hole or trench about 12-18" deep and mound up a good amount of dirt at the bottom for the crown to rest on with the roots extending down the side of the mound.      

Add a small amount of fertilizer to the hole. A 10-10-10 or straight bone meal will do. I think I am using a 2-5-7 by Jobes that has a bone and feather meal in it

Make sure to find the top of the crown where the shoots will be coming form and place it in the hole. Drape the roots down the sides of the mound and lightly cover with soil

Crowns should be at least 4" below the soil surface and you should still have some dirt on the sides of the holes. As the spears grow, you will fill in the trench/hole with the left over soil until level with the rest of the bed. 

Cover with straw for filtered light and to keep the soil and little shoots warm