This has been my best year for asparagus yet. I have one bed 16' long by 2' wide of Mary Washington and Jersey Giant. I have another bed 8' long by 3' wide of Purple Passion. This year the purple has put up some almost as big around as my wrist! Still tender and tasty. I've been harvesting for about a month and it is still going strong. Yesterday I picked about a pound and that is a good bit less than I was getting a couple of weeks ago. We never get tired of fresh asparagus. Yesterday's harvest was cooked in a stir fry with spring onions, snow peas, carrots, ginger, bell pepper and shrimp. Now that was delicious!

Becky

OH, you chosen people ... all that asparagus!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot garden (space and age), but have developed sources for most of the things I love -- unfortunately, not asparagus.

Dig a hole a foot deep, and plant even a single asparagus plant there. Keep the area free of weeds, and feed it with LOTS of nitrogen based fertilizer. My favorit is teh corn gluten. They do great with little else needed. My few purples were bought 4 years ago, and only two plants survived out of the original 6. These were never harvested until this year when they finally had spears that were bigger in diameter than a pencil. I don't have wrist size 'gus, but they are definately a lot bigger than store bought. I need to pick again tomorrow again. I have both Mary Washingtons and Jersey Knights too. One asparagus crown has now gotten out of my small fenced in area, so I need to move the fence away from the plant. If I moved the plant it would die. Once asparagus is planted, it should never be moved. Its roots can go down in the soil up to 20 feet!

We planted 1000 crowns in '98 planning to sell them at market. Well life didn't go in that direction and now we can harvest 15-20# every two days. Finally gave up after a week and letting it all go to fern. My favorite way to eat them is to drizzle olive oil over them and grill them. When they're charred they are like sticks of sugar. Tom

By now, you should be getting at least 20 pounds of 'gus per picking. Mine are now dwindling down to just a few. I allowed more of them to grow to ferns last year. But this year I had quite a lot of big spears. The corn gluten has been a back saver there too, as its helped to keep weeds out all through the summmer. In fall, I use my electric hedge clippers to chop all the dead ferns down to the soil level. I planted my crowns about 3 feet apart, and a few of them have expanded out to almost 20 inches in diameter, all from the same plant. If your spears are still small, consider applying some serious long term nitrogen like cottonseed meal, or the corn gluten. Both give a lot of slow release nitrogen for next year. I would start to add the fert about the time you cut off all the dead ferns in fall, then again a few weeks before they start to sprout next sprng. Here, I just zap in the microwave without any water. Then add some 'Butter Buds' and a bit of 'I Can't Believe Its Not Butter' spread. I'll be having a big dish of them tonight with a cheddar stuffed chicken breast.

We have a painful problem in Pennsylvania, as we missed our asparagus harvest. We have one robust asparagus plant, about 10 years old. Unfortunately, we happened to be in California for a couple weeks when the shoots first came up. When we returned, the shoots were already more than 3 feet tall, and now it's flowering. We only got a handful to eat just before we went out to California -- one meal. A glorious taste of what was to come! We're now wondering if we can cut it all down now in the hopes of harvesting new shoots that would then come up. If they would come up! Would that work, or kill the plant?

We also have about 15 other younger plants that are in their 3rd year. Some have 3-4 vigorous shoots, but they're just as tall. Should we cut them or let them go until next year?

Leave all the ferns alone and do not cut them down. This can seriously injure the plants for next year. Add LOTS of nitrogen that will break down slowly. The chemical type (urea) is way too strong and short term for this. Only harvest spears larger than a pencil in diameter. Most of mine are winding down now, and I went out today and picked only about a pound of them. I think I may have maybe 5-10 spears left, before I stop. Some thin spears are already about a foot tall, and forming ferns. I let mine remain until they die out in fall. At that time, I cut them off with the hedge clipper and apply a heavy coat of corn gluten. I used to cover the patch with a white plastic fabric for the winter, but it didn't seem to do much, so I don't bother anymore. My patch was just expanded by another 12 plants today. These were started in March from the harvesting of seed pods from last fall. If you see both ferns and some new spears from the same crown, you can still cut the spears without any harm. Leave the ferns there though. 3 year old plants are still considered 'babies'. I had to wait nearly 5 years to get a decent amount and size. This is the first year I could pick about every 3-4 days and get more than a meals worth.

Hi All,

I just planted my first 12 roots ever, they seem to like their new home and are sending up very thin spears which quickly turn to ferns. They are 2-3 yr old roots.

Please tell me what is this "corn gluten" you are all discussing and where can I get it?

Thanks,
Susan in NC

Corn Gluten is a narurally occuring process that is extracted from corn, when making the corn starch and corn oil. You can see a 'similar' product called Preen, being sold as a somewhat natural weed deterrent. Corn gluten does NOT kill weeds, it prevents weed seeds from germinating. Repeated applications help to 'build up' a barrier that weed seeds down survive. I apply it twice per year. You can find it on the internet, as well as from the source below. Although its primarily used for weed control in lawns, its organic and natural enough to reduce weeds in any area. Gardens Alive also has a product called WOW! (With Out Weeds) and is marketed as being the same thing. The best thing is after about 3-6 months, the gluten breaks down and releases essental nitrogen into the soil its applied to. I made the mistake of applying it to a small area, and then three weeks later tried to grow some seeds there. They didn't even sprout.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio Earth Foods

Oh, is that what is in Preen ? I use it in my flower beds. I never have taken the time to read the ingredients.
Having a bed of fresh asparagus would be so nice. I don't have the room to grow any here. At least I got to buy 30 lb. for 75 cents a lb.
Ken, I kept wondering for a while why my forget me nots didn't come back, then it dawned on me I had put down Preen . Since I stopped putting it on that spot I have lots of lovely forget me nots.

Yes, that can happen. Like putting down a weed killer turf builder on the lawn, and then try to seed it afterwards.. The grass seeds fail to sprout due to the weed deterrent in the turf builders. The corn gluten I have is bright yellow color and granulated. It has no odor and I put down as much as I feel is necessary to reduce weed seeds. I just noticed a small bare patch in the middle of my asparagus area and there was this little tiny asparagus spear that sprouted up right in the middle of it. I was planning on putting a new plant there, but now I don't have to. Oddly, even with all that corn gluten, I still got a single asparagus seed to survive through all that last winter, and this springs gluten applications, yet it still grew. I guess if asparagus likes where they are, they will prosper.

I nearly lost half of my horseradish however. I put down a little iron sulfate around it, and it just didn't like that. Some of the crowns that were just sprouting have died. I do hope I get some to survive, as this is the second time the horseradish has almost gone extinct here. I must rememeber not to apply any more soil amendments around it anymore.

Ken - I think you're right about horseradish. I planted some almost 10 years ago, and proceeded to forget about it.

The only thing that threatens it - snails. Otherwise, it seems to prefer neglect. We use such a small amount that it never seems to phase it. It doesn't get ANY attention whatsoever. One of those crazy plants that prefers not to be pampered, apparently.

Bejay

I guess so. I even had a bigger, older horseradish crown in the front, and thats where most of the iron must have dropped on. It recently died and is no where to be found. I only have maybe 2-3 green leaves right now on other less hardy plants, so I will not do anything further with them, except to spray with Neem, as the leaves tend to get chewed quite a lot. When I bought a small chunk of horseradish root at a local organic food store, I was amazed by its size which was as big around as my wrist. I doubt if I would ever get any that size here though.