This box arrived yesterday! Time for planting asparagus. I have 25 crowns. My asparagus plot is 5 feet long and only 28 inches wide. At a spacing of 10 inches, that's 6 crowns per row. Though the recommended spacing per row is 3-5 ft, I'd like to squeeze in two rows, 12 crowns. (Elaine is waiting to plant my extras.) So my rows will be only 14 inches apart. Since its only two rows and I can zig-zag the plants, I think this will work. But it will take a few years to know for sure.
asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
Awesome pic! I've never seen asparagus crowns! How the heck do you plant them? A hole? A trench? The roots look enormously long.
ReplyDeleteYour zig-zag approach is similar to what we did last year. We squeezed 11 crowns into an approximate 4'x3' space (I'm guessing by just visualizing the plot - I'll check the measurements when I get home) We had a 3 rows - one row of 4, one row of 3, and another row of 4.
ReplyDeleteThey all "took" when we planted last year and several of the plants are starting to sprout. I've got a picture of the first one over at my other blog - Cooking 4 Four - I want to get some additional pics now that there are more spears pushing through. Not sure if we'll harvest any this year, though I expect we may take a few just to give them a try!
Planting instructions are here. I'll post a photo when I do it. Someday soon. Probably tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteJim - your sprouts are very cute indeed!
ReplyDeleteSince my garden plot is an allotment away from my house and is not a permanent spot, I am using a flower bed close to the house that had plants that did not take (either that or the deer got to the azaleas and pink lilac) and putting in six asparagus and 4 artichoke. I think I will take your lead and plant them close, in a zig zag and then next year I can add more.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your blog - Happy planting!
Karen in Delaware
Fascinating. I have an approximately 12x2 space for my asparagus, and I have 20 crowns. I guess I'll also zigzag. We'll see what happens. Someone told me today about asparagus going to seed and self-sowing all over a neighborhood in Germany - has anyone else ever heard of this? Is it likely to happen in SW Ohio?
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog Love it.
ReplyDeleteI got my asparagus from Johnnys a couple years ago(doing well)..turned my backyard into a garden last year and will carry on this year. I have some pictures on my blog (older posts) but will be adding more Thanks Joe Todd