I can't think of any good reason why you would want to cover the bed in plastic over winter so I guess I'll just ask, what exactly are you trying to protect them from?

Rodney

If you're trying to protect spring spears from frost, a sheet of plastic won't provide much insulation. The roots should be fine, unless they were planted shallowly. If they were, then a very hard freeze could indeed damage the crown. In a small raised bed, I guess there is added risk of the ground freezing. A few inches of mulch is the usual way to protect such a bed.

root damage... Temp here has been in the 50’s most winter so far then dropped to 2 to 10 degrees at night for 5 days. I read that the root systems are not very well protected in raised bed from low temp when no snow. Mulching for protection during winter for smoothing over sever temp changes- winter freezing / thawing / freezing again. In ground, they have fairly decent root protection a foot deep but my beds are 1.5 feet high… not all that much protection with just chopped leaves on top so I skirted the plastic about 1 foot beyond the frame. Plastic over asparagus cause harm?

I guess my point was that plastic won't do any harm, but it probably won't do much good either. The R-value of a sheet of plastic is really low. That's why we don't insulate houses with plastic sheet. A few inches of shredded leaves are much better insulation than a sheet of plastic. (Yes, I would insulate my house with six inches of shredded leaves, if I had to.) Indeed, a high raised bed is going to be in more danger for ground freezing than a non-raised one. If you have enough shredded leaves, just pile them around the periphery of the bed.

For that matter, if the bed isn't too big, just add an inch or so extra soil/compost to the top. Or just throw a couple of blankets or a sleeping bag on top.

ok... awesome replies and so fast... thanks everyone! i'm a bit overly protective because they are in their first year (winter) and it has been so hot here this winter then all the sudden almost zero... then hot again. I do have about 4 inches of broken-down (year old) compost over the crowns, which are about 14 inches from the perimeter at this point. Maybe next year i should just rake some leaves up against the sides of the raised bed as well as compost the top. Thanks again!

Leaves or straw!

Nice looking bed, and yes, that is a majorly raised one. I have to think that 14 inches of soil between the crowns and the sides would be pretty safe. If you don't have real insulators, and you already have the bed covered with plastic, sure, leave it on.

You could consider nailing some carpet fragments onto the sides next year. That would help.

Personally I wouldn't worry much about it, I have Asparagus in 2 similar 4x10 beds as yours the most recent one planted in 2013. We have had several spells in the 2+ winters since they were planted with lows below zero and I have not lost any of the crowns. Mine are also about 1 foot from the outside edge of the frame. The only protection I give them is a couple inches of compost and then about 4 inches of shredded leaves. My brother gardens in Minnesota where it routinely gets to 20 below in the winter (see yesterday's football game) and his asparagus does fine with the same mulch protection only.

LoneJack Zn, these cold temps you and your brother have experienced also include conditions of exposed grounds... no protection from snow? Feeling a lot more confident after hearing from everyone. Thanks for your time.

We have snow off and on here from Dec to Mar but usually it melts off completely between snow events and I have had near zero temps for several nights in row without snow cover on the Gus. My brother on the other hand usually has a lot of snow cover most years but I am sure his has also been exposed to below zero temps without any snow cover.

Thanks for sharing the hands on knowledge... now i can move on to... designing my hen house without worrying over the asparagus.

You are welcome. Good luck with your hen house. I built ours about 4 years ago and raised 10 hens from chicks. Only have 4 of them left now plus a fat rooster that we rehomed for a friend. I'm planning on getting at least another half dozen this spring. Can't ever have enough chicken manure for the compost pile!

Take a look at the Backyardchickens website if you haven't already. Lots of good information there and knowledgeable chicken people posting on their forums. I recommend a poop board under the roost area for ease of cleaning up their nightly droppings. I put a couple inches of a granular product called Sweet PDZ on the poop board which makes cleaning the droppings as easy as cleaning out a cat litter box. Also check out 'chicken nipples'....I put 4 or 5 of them on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. They make keeping their water clean very easy.

Also watch out for the 'chicken math'!!!!

Hi, i live in Aguascalientes Mexico, our winter has been very mild this year, these last couple of days the temperature went down to freezing point during the evening and in this morning I found this

Chicken math? I googled that phrase which confused me more!00!

I love the nipple idea and i am actually studding pooping right now... Have a pic of poop management here some where from a BackYardChickens member... KC of: kissofnaturesoap.com

tks for the assistance!

Chicken math basically just means you start out with a small flock of maybe 4 hens or so and then next thing you know you have 20+. My coop is only 6x8 with a 16 x 8 attached run so I am limited to a dozen or so. Skirting the hardware cloth around the coop/run is a good idea. I have done the same and in 4 years I have had no predators get in. My coop is raised about 18" off the ground with a wood floor covered with linoleum, the hens like to go under the coop in the summer to find some cool shade and they go under there to escape the rooster when he is feeling frisky (which is pretty much all the time!). My poop board is not as elaborate as the one in your picture. It basically just a sheet of plywood with 2x2s around the perimeter to keep the Sweet PDZ in place. It sits about 15" below the 2 roosts and I hang the feeder from the bottom of the poop board like the one in the picture.

LOL at the mirror in that coop. Wonder what that is for?

rosinagutierrez... seems very early there in Aguascalientes Mexico, for asparagus. Is that a new garden? Looks like you just started that asparagus bed last year as i did.

Lone Jack... yea, that's what i thought you meant then i read:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/472434/what-is-chicken-math

Sounds like good poop maintenance... i have to ask her why that box is so deep. The mirror... i'll quote to you what she said.... "Oh, in answer to
your question about the mirror, as I’m chuckling. A friend of mine gave me that
antique mirror. I had absolutely nowhere in my house to hang it, so I put it in
the henhouse for fun. The girls actually do like looking at themselves when
they go to bed at night oddly enough. It’s just a novelty that dressed up the
girl’s abode a bit. They mosey in slowly at the end of the day and one by one,
according to their pecking order, find their spot on the roost and settle in for
the evening"

Found a picture that is close to the design i am looking to do:

Good looking coop and run! Will you have electricity run to it? My coop is only a few feet away from my shed so I just run an extension cord from the shed to the coop in the winter so I can plug in the water heater.

Regarding the asparagus in Mexico, I thought that it was not adapted to hot climates like they have in that area of Mexico, I think it is supposed to require a cold dormant period to do well, but maybe Rosina has her garden at higher elevation where it is cooler.

I lived in north Jersey for a few years back in the late 80s, lived in Fairlawn and worked in Paramus. I don't recall any people with chickens in the area back then but you might live further west where it is more rural.

Yes, electricity... only a few feet from my little red barn also.

Proposed location- this side of the small red barn (image)

forgot to answer... Sussex County near i80... so about 25 miles west of Paramus nj. your lucky you got out when you did.. for many reasons.

Yea I didn't care much for that part of Jersey and was glad to move back to KC. Further west in Jersey is a lot more rural and seems like it is a world away from the big city hassle. Good luck with your chooks!