I would keep it in the ground until it frosts, cut off the foliage, then a week later dig it up, wash it, dry it, and store it in peat moss in a cool place. Some people do fungicide. I didn't last year do fungicide last year, but may this year. Good luck!

Jardinista, The best time to plant asparagus is the spring. A great source for them is Nourse Farms in western, MA. They do mail order via internet or you can visit them if you're local.

Are there pictures of this so I can see what you crazy people are doing? We don't have a picture gallery for this forum, and Gardenweb asks that we avoid linking to other sites in the FAQ that might go dormant later. However, search for "pictures" or "pics" in our forum, and see if any of the discussion threads have pictures included! We usually have at least a few.When should I plant...? Can I grow ...? What is this pest / disease / plant? These questions are best directed towards the regional forums or those about that type of plant. The FAQs in those other groups will often have the answers to these questions for you, and if not, gardeners in similar situations are in a better spot to help you out on issues not specific to raised beds and intensive planting. Try the Vegetable Gardening forum, the Organic Gardening forum, the various regional forums, the Pests forum, or your county extension service. You can find the list of all the GW forums here.How do I learn more?A web search for any of the following phrases should help you tremendously. Put quotes around the phrases for best results: "square foot gardening" "Mel Bartholemew" "intensive gardening" or "French intensive"Mel Bartholemew's Square Foot Gardening book and website are highly recommended for a good, basic introduction to one intensive gardening method. There are others, of course, and you will find them as you search and learn more. If we haven't answered your questions here, post and we'll do our best to make something up! Permission gained from Mel Bartholemew to share his ideas and material when his name, website, or book is mentioned, June 2003. FAQ compiled and formatted primarily by fuzzy and Ray_Scheel.

You would be fine in North Carolina but crowns may have limited success of developing into healthy plants in northern climates. Since you planted I would water well to stimulate crowns to break dormancy and grow. Then allow spears to develop into plants without harvesting and try to prolong plant life by covering plants prior to frost arriving. If plants go dormant after producing a healthy abundant fern growth you have a good chance that enough root(crown) reserves were produced to keep plants going. If not you will need to replant next Spring.