I know it's very exciting to see those little spears emerge, but you have to let them grow for a couple of years before harvesting! Let them fern out , then cut them back, probably around Thanksgiving in your area. Compost the area, maybe plant some stuff that you don't have to dig around (garlic, onions hmmmm) chives???? Then the next year you will be amazed by these thumb sized gus! We have so much in our 4x8' bed, that we eat it 2x per week, give some to the neighbors and make soup! I haven't tried freezing yet! Be patient! It will come! LOL Nancy

Wait til the ferns turn brown. Cut them down to the ground. Dispose of the dead ferns, they can harbor asparagus beetles. Weed the bed, then fertilize, then mulch.

(DigDirtDave) Much of what you've written, it seems, presupposes that I possess the same knowledge, experience as those I'm asking and already know the answers to the questions I'm asking. To be fair, you may be confused because my posts were made at different times, with slightly different goals etc. My immediate goal is to help ensure the survival of what I've managed to grow so far and ultimately have as many harvestable crops of asparagus as possible. Regarding my location, that, thanks to the new and improved houzz version of this forum. As I recall, our zone, state, etc was automatically included to posts on the original Gardenweb. I had not been turned on to your workaround of using "last name" to display zone info. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. That said I would think that wherever asparagus does grow, it would grow under the same general conditions. Many gardeners battle against nature rather than paying attention, listening to and working with it. Due to this, I've seen plenty of failed attempts of people trying to grow asparagus (or any other crop for that matter) where they want it, the way they want to grow it, etc. When it (asparagus) just pops up and grows somewhere successfully, you know that's what it likes...and that's what I want to know. If, just for example, one wanted to grow cattails but knew absolutely nothing about cattails they could simply plant them somewhere they want them and will most probably fail. One could go to additional effort, "create a bed for them" trying to recreate an environment they might prefer. I would just learn about them to find that their ideal environment already exists literally in my own backyard. Done! That's one of the reasons I'm asking about the natural growing habits and environments of "Wild Asparagus". If nature has already created the perfect asparagus bed for me so that I don't have to that would be convenient, very welcome and appreciated! There are locations along the bank that I would much rather have covered with asparagus than weeds. I am not, in any way against creating a properly prepared asparagus bed; this is and has always been my intention. However, I currently don't have a great deal of time to spend on this (too many other things take priority) and with the seasons changing I'm feeling rushed to get it done NOW. I suppose what may be giving me the biggest problem is that, with some things, I may be a bit of a perfectionist. I'm thinking that when planting Asparagus you need to prepare -- not merely for a growing season but-- for future decades so I want to do make sure I'm doing it right ..and I'm not exactly sure I know what that is. Also, as I said, as far as I know there may be locations and pre-existing conditions under which it will thrive better than where I might otherwise plant it, regardless of any preparations I could make.

Agreed! One facet few talk about is the viability rate and although there is likely little difference between 1, 2, 3 year crowns amount reliable sources, I've had 100% survival of seed started plants and never had that level with crowns. Regardless of what choice you make look for a reliable source of healthy stock. You most certainly don't want to plant Fusarium infected crowns.