I am planning on putting in some asparagus this year and have a bunch of questions. I have an area of about 10'x10' that is gets a lot of sun. There used to be a bunch of shrubs there that I cut out over the last couple of years. I'd like to run my single bottom plow through it to break up the soil and let me get whatever roots are still left out. How many asparagus roots can I put in that area? I haven't tested the soil in that area but in other places nearby where I plant veggies the ph is about 6.8-6.9. Can I use peat moss to help acidify the soil? We have a problem with LOTS of rabbits. Will I need to fence this off? Does anyone have a recomendation on the kind of root to get? We are in Vermont, zone 4. Gurney's is having a sale that ends on May 17 so I'll need to put my order in soon.
It will answer many of your questions. As to the rabbits, if you really have lots of the critters, they can and will eat some of the spears. Deer like them, too. I have some of my asparagus fenced against deer, though the rabbits can get to it. They did nibble a bit this year for the first time. The other asparagus is not fenced and both the rabbits and deer have gotten in it. Neither did much damage, but I probably will fence it in against both critters next year, when that will become my principal asparagus bed. Welded wire is fairly cheap for a small area and will keep all but the baby rabbits out.
Thanks Chuck. I put in an order for 100 crowns last night. Hard to plow only a 10x10 area, it keeps growing every time I drop the plow [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] At least it's a little more lawn that we don't have to mow!! I want to run some landscape timbers around the edge of it to keep the grass down. If I have to I have some 2 foot chickenwire that I can run around it if the rabbits find it. We have never seen deer down around the house. We live on the outskirts of the village but own 13+ acres of hills and woods behind the house and see them up there. I'll be getting chickens at the end of the month so there will be a good supply of fertilized wood chips in our future!!
100 crowns! Are you going into commercial production? We have maybe 50 plants, and some of those are just two years old so that we didn't pick them as long as the longer established bed, and we had more asparagus than we, presently a family of three, cared to eat. I guess you can freeze it, though we haven't tried that. I made some pretty good asparagus/potato soup, and that would probably freeze well. But the yield from 100 crowns in a couple of years will be huge.
Chuck, I believe I could eat the produce from 100 crowns by myself. I love that stuff; just pick and eat it right there, chopped raw in salads, steamed with or without cheese topping, or as you said, cooked in a soup. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Egon, one of our former neighbors had a sister in Washington state who for many years had a boyfriend who was a commercial asparagus farmer. When she'd come to visit in Texas she always brought several unlabelled cans of asparagus, including some "pickled" asparagus. That was the only time I've eaten it pickled, but it was certainly very good.
I may have to try pickling it. We started picking in April this year, which is early for Missouri, but we had such a warm February and March that all the plants got confused. We then had a cold dry snap in late April and the first part of this month and the asparagus slowed down. We still got several pounds, and had more than we really wanted to eat. I really like that Ohio State site for asparagus. When I started to plant our first bed about five years ago, I had heard all kinds of stuff about the complicated "best" way to plant the crowns. Then I read that site, and it basically says to dig a shallow trench, throw in some super phosphate, and then drop in the crowns. Cover them up and go away. Now that's my kind of planting!
There are 3 of us that eat it, IF you include our GS dog. Some day I hope to retire so if I can raise enough to sell it'll help with the maple syrup, raspberries, apples, eggs, pumpkins and whatever else we can grow. The 10'x10' plot has turned into a 15'x23' plot [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Bird; I am still looking for pickled ockra! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
We had one small meal of asparagus but declined to pick more as the plants are not ready for harvest.
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