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Monday, January 30, 2012

How Much Asparagus Should I Plant?


Asparagus spear just starting to become
overmature for best quality
Q. I'm gardening in raised beds that are 4' x 8'. I'm not sure how much asparagus to plant. My wife and are I the only ones who would eat it and I'm guessing we would harvest 1x per week during the period they are harvestable. How much of my garden would need to be dedicated for that production level?

A. If asparagus is planted correctly it should start producing in February and you will stop picking about eight weeks later. When asparagus is in production and when it is warm outside you will picking as frequently as every other day to stay ahead of it. If you don't, much of it will be unusable. There is no such thing as picking weekly with asparagus once it is in production.

            It does freeze well, it makes great soup and they can be grilled nicely. I would say half-dozen crowns should be plenty for you and your wife. My asparagus class will be offered in March at Plant World and through Eventbrite.com.

3 comments:

  1. One comment on location...Asparagus is going to be in the same place for years, and takes a couple of years to get going. So, you may to plant it somewhere else or know that the raised bed you plant it in will be asparagus only from now on

    ReplyDelete
  2. One comment on location...Asparagus is going to be in the same place for years, and takes a couple of years to get going. So, you may to plant it somewhere else or know that the raised bed you plant it in will be asparagus only from now on

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the head's up Rick. I'm wondering if I just build a 2' x 2' raised bed if it would be adequate for the asparagus. Most orders are a minimum of 10 crowns.

    ReplyDelete