DIY Network

Asparagus Joe Lamp'l shares information on a delicious and easy-to-grow vegetable, asparagus. From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-305

Asparagus, one of the earliest springtime crops, has long been considered a delicacy. The tender spears that emerge from the ground every spring were a favorite of France's Sun King, Louis XIV, who ordered special greenhouses built just for growing asparagus. Fortunately for home gardeners, it's easy to grow.

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Once established, asparagus will produce spears for 20 or more years. It can grow very tall, its foliage sometimes reaching 6' or more. So before you plant, choose your garden space wisely. Asparagus grows best in full sun and needs room to roam.

Because asparagus can get so tall, many gardeners plant it on the north or west side of the garden where it will not shade other vegetables as it grows. Other gardeners opt to place an asparagus patch in their landscape. A 5' x 5' patch will yield about three or four pounds of asparagus per year, so plan according to your needs.

Asparagus starts each season by sending up spears, which can then be either harvested or left to become a fern. The ferns die back in the winter, and the cycle begins again the next spring.

Figure A

1. Asparagus needs loose, well-drained soil to grow well, so before you plant, it's important to amend the soil. You can do so by adding a 3" layer of composted manure and other organic amendments to the top of the bed, then working it in about 15" deep (figure A).

2. A soil pH, or acidity, level of 6.5 to 7.0 is best for asparagus. To adjust your soil's pH, add lime to make the soil more alkaline or sulfur to make it more acid. Your local extension service can help you determine how much lime or sulfur you'll need.

3. You can also improve your asparagus bed by adding fertilizer with a 10-20-10 analysis. The high middle number means that the fertilizer is high in phosphorous, which asparagus needs in order to produce well. Phosphorous doesn't leach, or move through the soil, like other nutrients, so you need to incorporate it deep into the soil, where it will be available to the plant roots.

Figure B

4. With the bed ready, you can plant the asparagus crowns, which are dormant asparagus roots (figure B). It's possible to grow asparagus from seeds, but using crowns gets you off to a faster, easier start. In addition, when you use crowns, you can purchase all-male plants, whereas with seeds you'd end up with both male and female plants. Female asparagus plants produce berries that reseed in the garden, competing like weeds with the parent plants. Gardeners prefer male plants because the males produce as many as four times more asparagus spears than do females, and they don't reseed.

• You can find several male hybrids to choose from. Asparagus plants with "Jersey" in the name, such as Jersey Giant or Jersey Knight, are excellent choices for cold climates. For climates that don't have deep winter freezes, UC 157 is a good choice. The "UC" refers to the University of California, which has developed asparagus hybrids specifically for mild climates.
  

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