Agree. No you cannot cut them back. That tall green fern is what will give you asparagus spears next year. That is the nature of asparagus growth and one reason why it should be planted where it doesn't have to be managed or contained.

You need to keep them well watered and fed throughout the season. In the late fall when they brown and die THEN you can cut them back.

Dave

I just didn't see the difference in me cutting a spear, which basically prevents the fern....and me cutting a spear that has started a fern. You know what I am saying? The small thin new ferns that are new shoots I'm not cutting them back but just was wondering why I couldn't with the ones that I missed getting.

Lea, I do it all the time. My patch is 10 years old, and I harvest asparagus for about 2 months - then let it all fern out. If during that 2 month harvest period I miss a few that start ferning, I snap them off. Your patch is younger though. If it your typical harvest time, I see no problem with it. If you've already been harvesting for 6 weeks or so, let it all fern out. :)

And letting it go...is never wrong.

I just didn't see the difference in me cutting a spear, which basically
prevents the fern....and me cutting a spear that has started a fern.

An over-simplification but basically the difference is when one cuts young spears early in the season more spears will develop from that same crown to replace the cut ones and those will go do fern and make up the difference in nutrient growth.

But after a certain point in the season the crown has put out all it is going to for this year and if you cut those ferns down now they don't usually get replaced if at all and the young crown dies.

Dave