Carol. Asparagus makes an incredible amount of roots. We originally set our crowns 18" apart in rows 4 ft apart. Obviously you will want to plant them a bit closer since you won't be walking in the bed. I would plant two rows down the length of the bed, perhaps twenty plants total, 10 plants in each row. They're going to look pretty sparse at first, but asparagus lives for a long, long time and they will fill the bed in a few years. I would mulch them heavily and if you have woodashes, asparagus loves the alkalinity but don't put them right over the crowns.

Thanks Dorothy. I was looking on another site where they were talking about planting them in one square foot and that seemed awfully close to me, but then their roots go down more than out, don't they?

I have a raised bed that size and have found that I would rather have a smaller one for salad greens that I grow through the winter. This one was too hard to cover adequately. It worked, and I kept things going until the week before Christmas, but I think I would rather use it for asparagus and make a smaller one with a good hinged cover before next winter, and maybe add an automatic opening device.

I don't have much trouble deciding where to put annual things, but those that need a permanent location often get put on the back burner because I can't decide where to grow them.

I saw a really good price for 25 asparagus plants the other day, and I don't remember where. Guess I will be going back through all of my catalogs to find it again.

I went out to a farm to buy asparagus crowns a few years ago and the guy had taken all the ones he didn't sell and had put them back into the ground. I thought that I would be sure to catch them the next year, and he had gone out of business and they were selling lots where his property had been and then I just kind of forgot to follow through. I have missed having the fresh asparagus tho. DH and I both like it raw in the garden and any other way also.

I have my asparagus in a raised bed just outside of the house. It is actually too close to the house because it doesn't get sun until about 11 am during the spring. Also, there is another building just about 40 feet West of it that knocks off the afternoon sun by about 4 pm. I started with a small raised bed of about 2 feet by 4 feet constructed with treated 2X8 lumber. The asparagus in that bed came from the big box store and I have no idea what they are. There are about 5 crowns in it and they are mixed between very thin stalks that are about 1/4" diameter and some other crowns that make stalks about thumb size diameter. We enjoyed them so much that we decided to devote the remainder of the raised bed to more asparagus. The larger segment is 4 ft wide by about 16 feet long. I got the suggestion from a couple of friends that grow Aspagus commercially (1-1/2 acres and 2 acres !!!) to order Hybrid UC-157 Variety from Womack Nursery Co. in De Leon Texas. Phone number is (254) 893-6497. I ordered two of their special package of 10 crowns each for $7.25. These were set out early last spring and by mid summer there were several shoots coming out of the ground. From late Fall until just several weeks ago, I let the things fern out and the ferns were about 4 feet tall and really thick. The ferns feed the plants for next season's edible shoots. You are supposed to let the shoots go without cutting for the first 2 years. The second year you can harvest lightly and after the 3rd year, begin to harvest everything that comes up. The harvest will last about 6 or 7 weeks in the spring and it is incredible how fast they grow. A shoot that just has his head above ground this morning will be ready to snap off for the table by tomorrow evening. You can almost stand there and watch them grow.

You mentioned having a hinged lid for the bed. I do not know why you would need anything like that at all. Just build the raised bed out in the yard so that it will get full sun and be ready to put up with a very thick and tall fern growth from about June until it begins to die off in December when you mow it down. You will have to watch closely to keep grass out of the bed so that it does not take it over. In my bed, I had been growing tomatoes and peppers for a couple of years and I had pretty well whipped the bermuda grass out of it. Mulch is very important and the Asparagus are heavy feeders so a good dose of triple 13 or some Ammonium Nitrate in the middles - not over the crowns is best. Womack will send some planting and fertilization instructions with the crowns and it is very informative. You will need to get an order in to them post haste to be sure they get your order in for this year before they run out.

The crowns remind you of an octopus and when you set them out, you will dig a deep area with a raised hump in the middle of it. Drape the octopus over the hump with it's tentacles hanging down all the way around. You will now cover the top of the crown with about 4 inches of dirt so you can see that they are set pretty deep. The Aspagagus will easily live 15 to 20 years and by 5 or 6 years, the roots will be down 3 to 3-1/2 feet deep. Cold will not bother them at all.

We won't get much Asparagus from the new crowns this spring, but next year, we will be rolling in them much to the delight of my wife and I and our daughter and her family up in Moore.

Good luck with it. Bob

Carol, the seed I sent to the swap was from UC-157 in case you kept some and want to grow from seed. You can seed it in place and it will be ready to harvest almost as quickly as transplanted crowns. We planted 6 100 ft rows of plants from the seed I bought 20 years ago from Porter Bros out of Texas. Don't know if they are still in business. The Martha Washington crowns I planted at the same time declined and I got rid of them 5 or 6 years ago but the UC-157 is still going strong, although I am gradually getting rid of part of it too.

Thanks Bob. I probably didn't make myself clear about the bed. I already have the 4x12 bed that I have been using for salad crops, but I plan to build a smaller one for the salad crops with a lid that shuts down over it and is small enough to cover with a blanket because I grow the salad greens into the winter. That leaves the 4x12 for something else.

I have had an asparagus bed before, but not at this house. I am glad to know that yours is doing good in a raised bed. I have looked at Womack before, but it has been awhile, so I will take another look. Thanks for the info. Carol

Mulberry I am going to try it from seed if it will catch up to the crowns. I keep trying to grow it but I plant it and don't take good enough care of it. One of my problems is weeds or grass gets in it and I break the asparagus trying to weed it. My load of top soil had a vine I can't stop in it also. I am going to use my wood stove ashes as advised. I don't have alkaline soil if it likes that - could be part of my problem. Annual crops are easier for me because you can dig up the whole area.

Dorothy, No, darn it, I sent that to someone else. (grin) There were only two packages of aspargus seeds in the swap and I had to go look through my seeds to make sure because I thought I remembered sorting myself one. I did, but it wasn't the one you sent. I think I will try starting some from seed anyway, but I will likely order 2 year crowns as well.

It's funny how we are about things....at least how I am. Those things that take a long time to establish can get put off instead of planted. One day you "wake up" and think, "Why didn't I plant that years ago so I could have it now". My garden keeps getting bigger and it still isn't as big as I would like to have. This year I plan to plant my entire fenced area, plus a few container plants outside the fence. It is getting about time to move that fence. LOL

Carol, I'm the same way. I want to have asparagus here but I keep putting if off because I dread the thought of Johnson Grass (which we have tons and tons of) and bermuda grass getting into the asparagus beds and driving me nuts. One of these days I'll chose a place to put some, but I sure will watch over it carefully like an overanxious parent. Even after 10 years, I still have Johnson Grass perpetually sneaking under the garden fence and into places where it does not belong.

Dawn

Dratted Bermuda grass....and Johnson grass! Would that we could just beat it with a stick and it would retreat to someone else's yard that loves Bermuda!

I love asparagus and with the supermarket prices, it seems to be a worthy veggie to grow. Alas, there is no room at the inn. If I could fine a container that is 4' deep and about 10' long........sigh.....

Can asparagus grow wild? I remember as a kid finding some on our property and no one could figure out how it got there. We did partake of the bounty, though, even though its origin was unbeknowst to any of us.

Susan

Asparagus is not a native plant, but like daffodils, daylilies and garlic as well as a host of other introduced plants it has become naturalized and can now be found growing wild.

I agree that asparagus can grow wild. The birds eat the red berries that come on in the fall and then they "plant" the seeds all over.

I have asparagus in one of my raised beds. I planted it on the long side of a 4x24' bed. I have wished since that I planted them down the center. Every year I have to keep a large tomato cage over each plant to keep the ferns from spilling out and obstructing the walkway.

Raised beds really help keep the Bermuda out, but you do have to be vigilant for it sticking its fingers in. Once Bermuda gets established in a raised bed that's about all she wrote.

They do well in the raised bed, otherwise. I can plant other things down along the other side. I've been getting some nice fat asparagus for the last couple of years. If I don't eat it while I'm still out in the garden, I will wash it and wrap it tightly in foil, putting it in the crisper. When I have enough for what my sister-in-law used to call "a mess", then I'll saute in a little butter. Yum....