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March 29, 2008

asparagus: an all-male cast

Filed Under edibles, organics, tools & techniques 

purple asparagus IT SHOULD COME as no surprise, since it’s true so many other places still: In the asparagus rows, males are in charge. ‘Martha Washington’ and ‘Mary Washington’ were names you used to see most often in catalogs, but no more. Their weakness: The Washington strains include both male and female plants, and the males are far more productive if what you want is lots of spears (perhaps to make something as delicious-sounding as Heidi Swanson’s Spring Wild Rice Salad with fresh asparagus, posted this week on 101 Cookbooks, which is what got me started thinking asparagus in March).
In the mid-1980s, Rutgers University, a state institution in New Jersey, began a program to improve asparagus performance that focused on the extra productivity of the male plants. The resulting strains, most of which have the word Jersey in their names, are what you want to grow if you’re going to plant asparagus. They waste no time or energy on seed production and go right to the task of making spears. They can be harvested more often (about every two to three days in a productive, established bed) and yield about 20 to 30 percent higher than the old varieties.
But asparagus tests even the most committed gardener, asking for a major feat of excavation followed by a lot of patience. Whatever kind you’re planting, you have to dig a trench about 18 inches wide and deep—no less than a foot in each direction, please. Since asparagus is best planted in spring, when dormant roots are sold by mail, prepare the bed the previous fall or in earliest spring. Order roots, or crowns, by mail for the freshest possible plants; they will be either one or two years old when you get them. Growers like Jersey Asparagus Farms will tell you which all-male variety is right for your region. To prepare the bed, first test the soil pH by following the package instructions on a home test kit, or by taking a sample, according to their directions, to a local soil lab. The lab report will indicate how to amend the soil, and with what material; the typical routes are sulfur to acidify and lime to neutralize, but neither is a quick fix—or the whole answer. Adding large amounts of organic matter, preferably compost, to the soil should always be the first step; an organic soil is easier to pH-balance. For asparagus, you are aiming for a pH within the neutral range, or about 6.5 to 7.0.
As you dig, put the soil you excavate on a tarp or in wheelbarrows beside the site. Then layer into the bottom of the trench a few inches of well-rotted manure, sprinkle with rock phosphate and an all-natural organic fertilizer according to label directions, tamp the bottom, then fan the dormant roots out in the trench so they look like so many giant spiders. Space them about 18 inches apart within the row, and leave a few feet between parallel rows. When they are in place, backfill an inch or two of soil onto the plants and firm, then water. Once the crowns send up green shoots, shovel in another thin layer of soil (don’t cover the tips completely), and repeat this step through the summer until the asparagus trench is filled back in. Keep the area weeded and watered.
Now comes the patient part. You cannot cut any spears until the third spring in the ground – a full two years after planting. (Sometimes cutting for just two weeks in the second year is suggested; follow the directions your grower encloses with your crowns.) Until then, simply let the plants go through their cycle of sprouting spears that turn ferny in summer. Don’t cut off any foliage until cleanup of the bed in late winter or early spring.
The payoff is obvious, if you love asparagus. And, best of all, if kept weed-free and otherwise well-tended, a planting can last for up to 20 years. Did I mention that you can also grow the super-sweet and exceptionally pretty purple-spear varieties at home? Maybe food for another post…

Comments

8 Responses to “asparagus: an all-male cast”

  1. Adrienne on April 27th, 2008 10:01 pm

    I’m just starting a vegetable garden this year and was so excited to find your blog today. I live in a Zone 3 climate and have wanted to grow asparagus desperately, but had not found info on why you don’t harvest the first two years, thanks for being so informative!

  2. margaret on April 27th, 2008 10:08 pm

    Adrienne,
    Welcome, and glad to help. Asparagus is worth waiting for. I have been harvesting for a week now already, more than I can eat each day, and it is wonderful. Each year with just some weeding, watering in dry spells and feeding once a year in early spring, I get this great reward.
    You will, too.
    Margaret

  3. Adam on June 24th, 2008 12:44 pm

    Margaret - Read about your blog in the NY Times…content is great and I’ve really enjoyed the links!

    As per the asparagus, I live in Florida Zone 8/9 and want to plant a heap of asparagus. I wondered if you thought any particular variety would do well - Purple, Green, Hybrid?

  4. margaret on June 24th, 2008 1:47 pm

    Welcome, Adam. I wish I had better news, but as far as I know asparagus requires more dormancy than you can offer it to perform well, and love a long, productive life. Generally it’s a Zone 4-8 crop, and in the hotter, more humid end of Zone 8 it limps along. There are some so-called West Coast varieties (I think ‘Atlas’ and ‘UC157′ are two) that tolerate more heat, but they hate humidity, so doubtful they will be suitable. Even the University of Florida, which conducted tests of all the varieties years ago trying to figure this out, couldn’t really endorse it as a viable crop from what I understand. You can look at their results on this page. Remember, now, I cannot grow a coconut or an avocado, so you can’t have ALL the good things!

  5. Amy on June 24th, 2008 10:44 pm

    Hello, This is a great site, I am glad I found it. I am a newbie to all things green, including my thumb. I just started the Square Foot gardening method this year. I believe in most cases,crowding my crops for most are vine crops, and I do not have a lot of Trellis Space. I hope 3 Zuchinni per sq foot will make it. This leads me to the Asparagus I bought. They were on sale, crowns, at Lowes for fifty cents. I um, bought 28 of them hehe.
    They are of the Mary Washington variety, and they say space 4″ apart for the 6 roots per package. I am most confused about Asparagus. Most things I read state 12-18″ apart. This of course leaves a much bigger amount of wood, space and soil of which to buy. Your pictures, versus what I see on the net otherwise confuse me as well, I see your crowns coming up one per several inches, most of what I see on the net are ‘ferns’. Thus needing much space sounds about right in that case.
    Erm, where is the plant in the fern haha.
    Regardless, any suggestions on planting? Perhaps the packages I bought are less than most crown roots thus the statement of over a foot in spacing.

    So my conern is about space and rows.
    My assumption was they grew bigger like Rhubarb and spread out.
    I live in Michigan, and I don’t have alloted for Asparagus the sunniest part of my land, but its on the North side and should get at least six hours from sunrise.

  6. margaret on June 25th, 2008 6:13 am

    Welcome, Amy. I am sticking to my instructions above about asparagus–and what you read about spacing elsewhere apparently. Not 4″ apart…definitely far too close.
    The reason the photos show spears close together is because the roots spread underground the last few years and a growing crown fills in a large space in time, making spears over the whole area you give it if you follow the spacing above. I planted them 18 inches apart in the row, promise. It gave them room to mature and flourish.
    I think your zucchinis will be crowded if you put 3 in a square foot, too. I know Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot method but I don’t think he squashes 3 squashes into a foot. ;-)
    Asparagus will do best in full sun, including the strong midday kind, so do think about where it is located since it’s permanent and something you will want to be able to count on for many, many years.

  7. Amy on June 27th, 2008 3:04 am

    Thanks for the information Margaret!
    I have decided two things, to stop being greedy with my ’squashed’ space and give them room (Also so Mel doesn’t call me a heretic SFGardener), and that I am going to take back my bulk Lowes Mary Washington Asparagus.
    After a lot of reading, growing MW would be a waste of time, space, and so last year.
    I was worried about GMO, but seems the Jersey Giant and or Knight are not genetically altered.
    I ask you lastly, if you can suggested some well respected sites to buy crowns from.
    I know I am running late, but I am determined to get this year behind me to be on my way to Asparagus feasting and fun in a few years.
    From what I see, most places are sold out :/

    It’s good to know this crop will be hardy enough to grow without the special need of an above ground thus saving time/money.

    In closing here is a cool site I thought you might enjoy. Seems they have some even BETTER hybrids on the way than the Jersey variety (Seems you prefer the Giant?)

    Amy

  8. margaret on June 27th, 2008 5:21 am

    @Amy: Try Miller’s up in the Finger Lakes of New York State. As for what variety, I’d get half of the purple and half of one of the Jersey types. We’ll await your progress report!

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