If they are 3 years and still "thin" - which is subjective - then they haven't been fed enough. You can't count on the compost to supply sufficient nutrients unless there is a very active soil micro-herd in that bed so 2-3 supplemental feedings per year are needed - early spring before any spears, mid-summer, and again in late fall after they go dormant. If you want to use only organics then use composted manures.. Plus depending on how much compost was in the bed, the crown will be exposed as the compost decomposes and you will need to keep topping off the bed with more soil and compost. If all the new growth you get remians pencil thin then just let them fern this year and don't harvest. With adequate feeding and consistent watering throughout the summer (they need lots of water) next year should be much improved. Dave

Each redwood box is 2.5 x 12 feet, filled with a mix of soil and compost. I planted 10 roots in each, purchased by mail order. They were supposed to be male Jersey hybrids but 50% produced berries so I suspect they were Mary Washington. The company refunded my $$$ when I complained - so at least this failure didn't cost me anything but water and time. They were watered on a drip until October when the rain started, and its rained since (raining today) with some warmer days starting in March. We had a few days of frost but no hard frost this winter. Our local Master Gardener Organization grows them in raised boxes and this is recommended in our area because our clay soil can get quite hard packed and the shoots have trouble breaking through. This weekend I'll dig through the box and look for roots. The spot is part shade but the ferns grew wonderfully so I figured they were happy. Perhaps the rotted with all the rain we've had? I'll replant next Spring.

Hello, I too, like you, am looking forward to spring. I'll try to answer some of your questions. RE Asparagus -- asparagus needs to be in full sun, and definitely does NOT want a heavy, wet soil, which would make it rot. It actually does best in rich, sandy loam. It does like a steady supply of moisture, but doesn't ever want waterlogged roots, hence the sandy soil. As far as varieties, there are three main classes, open pollinated, mixed-gender cultivars like 'Mary Washington' which are the oldest types, and the cheapest to purchase; all-male hybrids, known as the 'Jersey' series because they were developed in New Jersey, these are generally all-male plants (although a few females slip through at times), so they are claimed to make larger spears and give higher yields as they don't devote energy to bearing fruits. Personally, I don't see that there is a big advantage in these for the home gardener. They are the most expensive plants to buy; finally, there are also the 'gourmet' types, such as 'Purple Passion' which bears purple spears, or some of the European cultivars which grow the white asparagus (ONLY if blanched with mounds of soi), such as 'Precocce d'Argenteuile' (note -that's probably NOT the correct spelling) -- these types are fun to grow if you are of that mindset. Rhubarb will grow in full sun or partial shade, and it likes rich, moist soil. It will tolerate heavy soil and the infrequent, very short-term flooding. In hotter climates, it actually would prefer some shade in the heat of the day. With rhubarb, your basic choice is between green-stemmed and red-stemmed cultivars. There actually is very little to no taste difference, but green-stemmed cultivars like 'Victoria' are actually more vigorous than the red-stemmed ones 'Chipman's Canada Red,' 'Cherry,' etc. Personally, I would say just get a green-stemmed type, and add a little food coloring when cooking if you wish. But, that's up to you. As far as when to plant -- you will basically receive dormant roots on either of these, and the nursery should send them at approximately the correct planting time for your region. Both are fully hardy, and can be planted outside as soon as you can work the soil, which is probably sometime in March in Virginia. Hope that answered some of your questions.

I looked up my records from last year. I sowed Mary Washington in cells the first week of Feb, got 20 seedlings. Potted up to solo cups March 30 and set out in garden on June 15 (I intended a couple weeks earlier, but family issues intervened). All were spindly, very thin two to four shoots, but most about a foot high. Then, after a pretty brutal winter here in the Highlands of the Hudson Valley (Putnam Co NY), I only lost one to frost heave. Now they are all uniformly about 2 to 3 feet tall, two to 8 spears per plant, a few have spears in excess of one half inch diameter. This in 15 months from sowing. Not too shabby, IMO. So I would go with Dave digdirt's advice, which I have found generally on the money. If you start hardening off today, you'll be able to get them in the ground by Memorial Day easily. Just a word about seeds and variety: I agree with the OP on cost (if I bought 20 crowns at local garden center they would have cost me about $80 to$100, at which price I'm getting my gus from the farmers market) and the joy of seeing things grow from seed (btw, I use a sunny window with seed cells on a warm radiator, very low tech). Also, Mary Washington was the only seed variety I could find locally, why pay shipping and handling? The variety has been somewhat maligned on GW because it produces two many females (sexist!) and seeds, more modern varieties have greater disease resistance, etc. While that may be true, if the old fashioned varieties were good enough for my grandma, they're good enuf for me.