Asparagus

Planting

Perhaps the ultimate gourmet vegetable, asparagus spears are at their best when freshly harvested.  Plant asparagus roots in the spring.  As a rough guide, ten well-established plants should yield about 7 pounds of spears each season.  Because asparagus is such a long-term crop, spend some time getting the soil right.  Asparagus prefers a light, free-draining soil with neutral pH (6.5-7.5); add lime to your soil to make the your garden less acidic.  Cultivate the soil as deeply as you can, working in at least an inch of compost.  Take care to remove every scrap of perennial weed and hoe off annual weeds couple of times.  Add generous amounts of potassium and phosphate fertilizer.  Dig a trench 6-8 inches deep and 12 inches wide.  Make a ridge of compost down the center of the trench.  Space the crowns 18 inches apart, straddling the ridge of the compost so their roots spread down either side.  Cover the crowns with soil and gradually fill the trench once the shoots start to appear.

Grow

If you want more than one row, space them at least 3 feet apart.  The major work involved in growing asparagus is keeping the weeds under control.  Mulch with a weed-free compost around the plants.  Or hoe between rows but not too close to the base of the plants.  Water newly established beds regularly - setting up a drip system is most efficient.  After two years, the plants will not need to much care.  Feed the plants in late spring or early summer when you stop cutting.  Apply a balanced fertilizer or dress with compost.  This will feed the fronds that, in turn, will supply next year's spears.  Leave the ferns until they die back completely after a couple hard frosts.  Then cut them back to 12 inches and mulch the rows.  You can pull out dry stems in spring.

Harvest

In the first year, don't be tempted to pick any spears.  Let them all grow into ferny fronds to help build up the crowns.  In the second year, you can cut spears for a limited period.  After a month, let the fronds grow.  In the third year, you can start to harvest for a full 6-8 weeks.  Wait until the spears are 6-8 inches tall and the tips are still tight .  Snap them cleanly at soil level or cut them with a knife just below soil level.  Because the spears grow so quickly, harvest every other day.  If you do not pick a sufficient amount, keep them in a refridgerator until you have enough for a meal.  If needed asparagus freezes well.