[Hereford]

Hi, I am thinking about putting some asparagus in for next year and I was hoping to find out what is the best type and methods or tips for a good sustainable crop?

Only looking for enough for ourselves and would sell any surplus (if there was any)

[HesterF]

I planted 40 crowns last year. Mostly Gijmlim but with a few of another variety (and I can't remember what it was now - whoops!). You tend to plant them dormant so you're a bit late for this year now. They last a long time so you need to prepare you bed carefully with lots of manure. You dig a trench and then make a little ridge in the middle so the roots trail down either side - plenty of Youtube vids on it. They don't like it too wet so I've been worried whether any of mine would make it through the winter (particularly as the ducks broke through in the autumn and paddled the whole area down very effectively) but I've got some spears through already - remains to be seen how many have survived. You don't harvest for the first three years or so so they can build up their strength - I might risk a few spears next year. Oh, and you need to keep the bed weed free which is quite hard as you don't want to disturb the roots so it has to be done carefully by hand with a trowel. I've just weeded and mulched our rows with compost. Apart from that, not much to it!

[pgkevet]

HesterF describes the traditional way.. and it's what i did too. But I did find a research document from a US university claiming that if you just dug a trench and lobbed the crowns in any old way it made no difference!

I agree that weeding is a pain. Sadly I also find that despite a chicken wire fence around my plot soemthing nibbles the tips as they come up.

I tried a packet of seeds, too, last year and they all germinated easily but trying to avoid disturbng those for weeding once planted out is tough.

[cloddopper]

Salting the asparagus bed is supposed to be an old timer weed control  as asparagus will tolerate a lot more salt than most weeds .

 If you are able get certified male plants .. the reason is that the female plant uses a lot of energy that could be used in producing spears in making the berries.

20 or so years ago , I got a couple of cheap packets of seeds from a local ALDI and grew the lot , then culled out the seed producers in late summer when they showed ..
 I  still got around 30 male plants out of it  .

[Lesley Silvester]

I found this interesting as I am thinking of using an old bath to grow asparagus in. It may be a way of keep the ground elder out. My plan was to fill the bath almost to the top with rotted manure and leave it to settle, then digging out holes and filling them with compost to put the crowns in.


Would this work?

[Steph Hen]

I have an old bath and like asparagus... Looking forward to responses!

[cloddopper]

One of the more interesting uses I had for a dead cat 30 or so years ago was to dig a hole about 700 mm deep x 1500 x 1500 mm , laid a small concrete footing around the edge and built a wall of red engineering brick up to 600 high .

We laid our 9 yr. old mog to rest in the hole the next day , with full family solemn funeral rites as only a 10 year old girl can do them .
 Then I backfilled the brick box grave with well rotted stable muck and the topsoil , made it up into a decent raised mound and planted four asparagus crowns in it a few days later.. over the years they turned out to be some of the best asparagus spears we had .

 The people who purchased the property from us seven years later were continually singing the praises of the asparagus bed to our old neighbours Paul & Rachel  ( now 30 year long term friends who we see at least once a year ).  No ....they never let on the secret of the quality asparagus .

.

[Bert]

One of the more interesting uses I had for a dead cat 30 or so years ago was to dig a hole about 700 mm deep x 1500 x 1500 mm , laid a small concrete footing around the edge and built a wall of red engineering brick up to 600 high .

We laid our 9 yr. old mog to rest in the hole the next day , with full family solemn funeral rites as only a 10 year old girl can do them .
 Then I backfilled the brick box grave with well rotted stable muck and the topsoil , made it up into a decent raised mound and planted four asparagus crowns in it a few days later.. over the years they turned out to be some of the best asparagus spears we had .

 The people who purchased the property from us seven years later were continually singing the praises of the asparagus bed to our old neighbours Paul & Rachel  ( now 30 year long term friends who we see at least once a year ).  No ....they never let on the secret of the quality asparagus .

.

Fantastic .
I was thinking along those lines when any of my chickens shuffle off this mortal coil.
I like the bath idea for asparagus 

[pgkevet]

Reminiscent of fact my mum lives next to the village church. We say the mushrooms from the graveyard are full of body....

[HesterF]

The chickens and ducks I have lost are mostly feeding the currant bushes (those that haven't fed us!). Only thing I'd wonder with the bath is whether it would drain well enough - danger it would become waterlogged I'd have thought.

[Lesley Silvester]

Reminiscent of fact my mum lives next to the village church. We say the mushrooms from the graveyard are full of body....

 

Only thing I'd wonder with the bath is whether it would drain well enough - danger it would become waterlogged I'd have thought.

I wondered that so I thought I'd leave the plug out. 




Seriously, I am going to make sure it is tilted slightly towards plughole end to aid drainage. What do others think?

[cloddopper]

I seem to recollect that the asparagus roots can go down several metres so your best to check that out before you use an old bath to house them .
 Found this :-
Asparagus roots can reach depth of 10 feet into the soil,

Just found this so it might be viable for some of you
This link to ehow , ought to help , they are talking about 18 x 18 inch pots .

http://www.ehow.com/how_8142689_plant-asparagus-pots.html

[cloddopper]

Reminiscent of fact my mum lives next to the village church. We say the mushrooms from the graveyard are full of body....

 

Only thing I'd wonder with the bath is whether it would drain well enough - danger it would become waterlogged I'd have thought.

I wondered that so I thought I'd leave the plug out. 




Seriously, I am going to make sure it is tilted slightly towards plughole end to aid drainage. What do others think?

 We have a primrose yellow cast iron bath in the back yard as a herb bed. It was levelled on & across the top with a 2 mtr spirit level , the slope of the bath floor  is sufficient for drainage so long as you have a water path .
 I laid a new scotchbrite pad over the removed plug drain hole , then ran a four inch layer of gravel in the bath and covered it with weed barrier cloth to stop the contents clogging the gravel water drain . It works very well indeed

[Lesley Silvester]

I'm now wondering if asparagus is the right thing to grow in it. Having looked at the ehow link (thanks, Cloddopper) that says if you grow asparagus in pots they need to be brought inside if the temperature drops below 64F, and not fancying trying to move a bath full of compost up the garden and into the house, I may have to rethink.


The idea of a herb garden is good but it's a long way from the house. Herbs really need to be close so you can pop out and pick a sprig or two. Hmmm, need to give this some thought.

[HesterF]

Strawberries? Advantage is that you can change them all after three years unlike asparagus which would be there for twenty years. Not quite so exciting though.