(no subject)

[madbaker]

A couple years ago I planted four or five asparagus crowns that my dad gave up. (He didn't miss them - he has a 6' diameter asparagus fairy ring.) This was supposed to produce asparagus much more quickly than starting from scratch. Even allowing for my having planted one of them upside down (I think), I was disappointed that we hadn't seen any asparagussy progress.

This may be the breakout year.
While gardening Saturday we noticed two nice four-to-six inch spears in the bed. By Monday, they had both roughly doubled in height, and one had already gone to seed. There was a third weedy sprout nearby.

I think we won't be harvesting this year to encourage future production. Maybe next year we'll have a week of harvesting fresh spears. (Which may be the year we move, naturally. It worked that way with the cherry tree in the last place.)

Comments

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. Asparagus.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

If you actually get more than 3, you may want to harvest some. My grandmother harvested one out of three the first two years they came up with anything like an edible stalk. She claimed it helped them grow better.

There's a great Cooperative Extension service pamphlet here:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html

It talks about soil needs, temperature, maintenance at the end of the year, etc. Of course, your dad may have given you all that info ;-)