Trish: I grew Asparagus in southern California, in a climate similar to yours. UC 157 used to be the main variety for the West, but newer cultivars such as Atlas, Apollo, and Grande may interest you. Google "western asparagus varieties",

If you can't find them locally (and you probably can, with information on the best varieties for your area, from your extension agent) get them mailorder from California, where there are a gazillion sellers.

Make a raised bed with 2X10s or 2X12s, from 12' to 16' long. Make it no more than 3 feet wide so you can pick asparagus from eiher side without having to get in the bed. If you order (or buy) 2 ea. 2X12's, 16 feet long, and cut 3 feet off each, you'll have the wood you need for a 13 foot bed. 2 13-foot boards for the length, and two 3-foot boards for the width, one at each end. Get it?

Nail it together, like a big rectangular box, and fill it with rich soil (or use regular soil amended with compost or well rotted manure). Asparagus loves sandy soil, as the roots travel freely through it.

Get it ready first, before you buy the crowns, so you don't have them lying around drying out before you're ready for them. Buy one or two-year-old crowns--they won't cost much. If you plant them every 18" in a 16 foot bed, you'll only need a dozen crowns.

Plant them 5" deep in the rich soil, and water them to start growth. They'll go dormant if you don't give them water periodically--but since they DO need a dormancy period, you'll want that to happen during your colder months, and the lack of water will bring dormancy on.

Understand that you won't harvest Asparagus from plants the first year--sorry, you have to let the crowns develop good root structure, and grow in size. Once your bed is established, however, you'll have Asparagus for many years, as Asparagus grows as a perennial (for that reason, keep it separate from your annual vegetables, at one end of the garden, or by itself. Why mix annuals with perennials?

Now is a good time for you to get them in the ground, so they'll start their growth in very early Spring. Build a box as I said above, fill it with rich sandy soil, and plant the crowns, spreading the roots like the legs of a spider.

Growers used to fill their form (box) half full of soil, lay out the crowns, spaced 18", then fill the rest of the box full. That's still a good way--or fill your raised bed then dig holes 18" apart, and lay the crowns in as I said, and backfill, whichever you find easier.

Don't pack the soil--leaving it loose is better, so the roots and spears can freely travel.

Asparagus from the garden is night and day from store-bought; it's sweet as candy when homegrown. I couldn't live without an Asparagus bed, May seem like a bit of work, but it'll last 25 years once established.

Weeds are the downfall of most Asparagus growers. That's why you want rich weed-free soil in a raised bed--so weed seeds find it difficult to blow in.

If your weather is super hot, you may want to locate it half-sun, mottled-shade.

Still want to do it? Post any questions, and I'll answer them--I've grown Asparagus for many years. Don't overpay, just because you're a newbie; crowns shouldn't cost more than a buck apiece.