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You are here: Home / Gardening / Weekend Gardening: Starting an Asparagus Bed

Weekend Gardening: Starting an Asparagus Bed

Published: Apr 16, 2011 · Modified: Sep 24, 2016 by Andrea · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 7 Comments ·

For me, spring means asparagus and I anticipate asparagus season as much as I look forward to strawberry, cherry, and blueberry season. Michael actually tried growing asparagus early in our courtship, but the crowns never took and we ended up with an empty raised bed and dashed hopes. We finally decided to give it another try this year using Jersey Knight hybrid plants we purchased from Debaggio’s Herb Farm & Nursery.

Andrea Meyers - Michael removing sod for the asparagus bed.

We selected a spot on the north side of the backyard, which gets full sunlight. Michael dug up the sod and moved it to some of the bare spots in the yard, then he filled the space with a mix of topsoil, manure, peat moss, and compost.

Andrea Meyers - Michael preparing asparagus for planting.

I arranged the asparagus plants about 8 to 12 inches apart, according to the instructions from Debaggio’s. We started with six plants, then depending on how these do we may add more next year.

Andrea Meyers - Michael preparing asparagus for planting.

Michael put each plant in the ground, making sure the root system was covered but not too deep. Once we start mowing the yard in a couple weeks we’ll mulch the bed with grass clippings to discourage weeds.

Asparagus needs time to develop roots and produce enough shoots to eat, so they should stay in the ground for two years before the first harvest. That seems like a long time off, but we’ve planted many things that require similar patience, such as rhubarb and the fruit trees and bushes. When it comes to asparagus, we don’t mind waiting.

Resources

  • Mother Earth News – Growing Asparagus
  • Wikipedia – Asparagus
[Disclosure: This blog earns a small commission through affiliate links.]

About Andrea

Educator, photographer, tea drinker, avid cook, and gardener. I love helping people learn how to do great things.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maris (In Good Taste) says

    April 16, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    I also think of asparagus when I think of spring but have never actually grown my own. Must be awesome!

    Reply
    • Andrea says

      April 16, 2011 at 9:52 pm

      Hi Maris! We hope to have a good harvest in a couple years.

      Reply
  2. Kalynskitchen says

    April 17, 2011 at 9:51 am

    I will be watching with interest. I’ve never grown asparagus, but I think it would be fun to try.

    Reply
  3. Burwell General Store says

    April 25, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    I did not know this about asparagus- that it needs a couple of years to get settled. One of my most potent food memories is from my uncle’s garden on the plains; he chopped fresh asparagus out of the garden and we walked back and sauteed it right then… 15 minutes from garden to belly.

    Reply
    • Andrea says

      April 25, 2011 at 10:30 pm

      That is a wonderful memory. I hope we’ll have a harvest of asparagus in a couple years, too.

      Reply
  4. Nate @ House of Anie says

    April 26, 2011 at 12:31 am

    Good luck! I look forward to seeing a GYO asparagus post in a couple of years 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 12 Great Gardening Ideas: Unique, Thrifty and Repurposed says:
    March 27, 2014 at 10:47 am

    […] How to start an Asparagus garden bed @ Andrea’s Recipes […]

    Reply

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