no unless you want put down weed killer that is a total vegetation killer.

I don't know. This is strictly a guess. But, instructions always say to cut for a few weeks and then let the shoots grow to feed the roots. Why not just cut and cut them for a couple of years, leaving few or no ferns? Logically, according to directions, they would weaken and die....Like I said, this is just a guess.

Get some neighbor gardener who would be willing to dig them up....

donnabaskets your guess would be wrong.

"Short of digging that deep and hoping to find and remove the 14 year old root structures..."
Sounds like this is the most sensible things to do. And this is not hard either, I would just dig and throw away as much the root crowns, and turn the soil over. After that I would just go ahead and plant your new vegetables. There may be some reminant asparagus coming up, but your new veggies will subpress them with your helps. I would hoe them like I do with other weeds. This struggle may carry on to next year and beyond, but I don't think they are that tough to get rid of eventually. That is if you don't want to use chemicals which I am not suggesting you to do anyway.

They will not just die. They will dwindle, they will become thin and stunted, but they will keep coming back for years, a few spindly stalks.

Hi ltilton,
I guess you mean, if someone was to Harvest each and every spear as soon as they were of edible size,you could just do that perpetually ??? That of course sounds crazy, but even if it were true, the act of planting the bed with other vegetables,before the crowns start producing spears, and then the spears cut down as needed (the same as any other weed), any spears that came up could be snapped off and chucked into the compost pile. Viola, even the "weeds" are a blessing.

Acton_John,
If the land was available for me to grow crops, I would and could,.......I would treat them as weeds and plant French Intensive/Bio-Dynamic..... "Square Foot Style" = means: plant something in every square foot, it won't be long (if you don't allow them to be energized by the Sun), that you will be rid of them.

Acton_John,
Here are a couple of Pics that show French Intensive Gardening, if you plant like this over the Asparagus bed, and then snap off any spears that come up, you will be fine.

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Those rhizomes go down ten feet and weigh 30 pounds each. I am afraid you will have to spray. They will survive a year at least, probably two, without food, so the alternative is covering with plywood for the duration.

I accidentally killed all my asparagus over the winter. I piled on compost and wood chips, probably 10" total over all. Then watered real good about twice a week over the winter months. It was rather easy to dig up once I realized nothing was growing there.