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Tractorholic
Posted May 02, 2013 - 11:35 AM
Will the cold hurt my Asparagus? I have taken two pickings off my Asparagus this week.
As I sit here watching the snow blowing nearly horizontal if it freezing will ruin my first full season of harvesting. Started two years ago, and harvested sparingly last year.
Another question, I have plenty of room and might try planting from seed. Anyone ever planted it from seed?
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Collector of Rusty Junk
Posted May 02, 2013 - 01:17 PM
You can start with seed, but you will probably get a lot of female plants. The crowns you buy at the store are Male plants. With the female plants it will make for even more plants and crowd the bed, plus it will take longer. With just male plants they spend more time growing and less time trying to get to the ladies. (It's a guy thing) 
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Posted May 02, 2013 - 02:24 PM
The guys always get blamed for it all.
Dick
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Posted May 02, 2013 - 05:08 PM
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Tractorholic
Posted May 03, 2013 - 09:29 AM
I planted 24 crowns of New Jersey Knight three years ago. I picked it sparingly last year and this is the first year I can really harvest.
There were a few female plants in the mix.
I have plenty of room so am tempted to try growing from seed some Mary Washington. Along this patch for two years I have fall planted Garlic, which has worked very well. But am planning to move the garlic patch this fall and would not mind letting asparagus take that area over.
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Rockstar
Posted May 04, 2013 - 09:26 PM
I like asparagus but that 3 year turn around is hard for me to wrap my head around... What types of soil does best?
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Collector of Rusty Junk
Posted May 05, 2013 - 04:11 AM
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Tractorholic
Posted May 05, 2013 - 10:15 PM
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Tractorholic
Posted May 06, 2013 - 05:43 AM
Glad to hear it survied the snow , so nice to be able to pick just what your eating that night
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Tractorholic
Posted May 06, 2013 - 08:36 AM
Glad to hear it survied the snow , so nice to be able to pick just what your eating that night
Yes it is. Along this poor clay patch I have Horseradish and have been planting my fall plantings of Garlic( They are up about 5" now).
I think next fall I will be planting the Garlic in another location.
My parents are in their 80's and their diet in the 50's and 60's were the typical Meat and Potatoes. I have introduced them to a lot of new things. And they are trying things that they never would have eaten, Shallots, (Dad bought his first Red onion last summer) and Asparagus is something they have just started eating. So I'm planning to expand the Asparagus patch when I pull the Garlic.
With all the mud after the snowstorm last week there was not a lot I could do in the garden.
So during the Rain delay at Talledega yesterday I pruned the Berry Patch.
It looks like there will be a very good crop this summer.
Edited by JD DANNELS, May 06, 2013 - 08:39 AM.
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Tractorholic
Posted May 06, 2013 - 08:52 AM
Two Step: to expand on the question about planting asparagus, the Traditional way of planting it is to spade two spades deep, to create a pit. Fill the pit with a deep layer of manure put in soil and plant the crowns. Then as the crowns root and grow rake in dirt till the pit is full. Don't pick any the first year, pick very sparingly the second year. And you can harvest quite a bit the third year. After that it will produce for many years to follow probably 10-15 yrs.
I did not have the manure so I just dug a trench about 10" deep and planted the crowns. and did fill the trench slowly over the first year.
Yeah waiting 3 yrs to get all you want seems a little hard to swallow. But I think it is worth it,to get such a tasy treat early in the spring, when it seems the garden is nothing more that bare dirt. Asparagus like Spinich are a delight fresh, and it took me some time to get used to the idea of eating it. When all my childhood memories were of canned crap that had the consistancy of snot. Taint at all the same!!
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Tractorholic
Posted May 06, 2013 - 10:42 AM
When all my childhood memories were of canned crap that had the consistancy of snot
Must have been like that at most houses in the sixties lol , even in the summer I think all we had was canned food . A treat was corn-on-the-cob ! Not that once in a while my wife will open a can of corn or beans but with suppermarkets having veggies all year we don't mind paying a little $$ for fresh ( ok uncooked lol ) veggies .
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Tractorholic
Posted May 06, 2013 - 11:09 AM
Must have been like that at most houses in the sixties lol , even in the summer I think all we had was canned food . A treat was corn-on-the-cob ! Not that once in a while my wife will open a can of corn or beans but with suppermarkets having veggies all year we don't mind paying a little $$ for fresh ( ok uncooked lol ) veggies .
Yeah we do keep canned food around and Jo can's a lot of the garden produce. But I am amazed at what is available fresh and the vast variety that was simply unconcievable year round in the 60's and even 70's and 80's when my kids were growing up.
Heck I think I was 15 before I went to a Pizza Hut. Before that Pizza was a kit from Chef Boyar Dee?
We really got heavy into the gardening and Jo making everything from scratch when we learned that my daughter born in 73 was allergic to eggs. There is very little prepackaged food that does not contain eggs.
Edited by JD DANNELS, May 06, 2013 - 11:13 AM.
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Posted May 07, 2013 - 09:50 PM
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Tractorholic
Posted May 07, 2013 - 10:01 PM
That is a big patch! I wonder if there is a way t refurbish it and keep it going.Mine is over 20 yrs now. I still get so much I give it away. My patch is about 60x20. I expect it to fizzle out soon, but enjoy it while it's available. I cut it just below the surface and then bend it till it snaps. The best way to cook it is on a baking sheet on low heat. Drizzle with olive oil and spinkle garlic powder on it. Crispy and tasty.
