We eat it all, freshly picked.

Hi Arlene. I have some I planted in a pot in 2011, let them grow this summer 2012 and then put them in the garden ground this fall. I am so hoping they make the grade even if I set them back a year by moving them. We also love asparagus and it is ghastly expensive up here.

Hi Mary, good to see you here!

Don't fret about them being set back a year. When we moved from our former home, where we had 10 plants growing, I dug each plant up and put it in a typical plastic grocery bag and brought them out here but we didn't have any area cleared to plant them. They remained in bags. One day my daughter came over for lunch and I asked her if she'd like asparagus with the chicken salad and she did so we went out to pick them...from the plastic bags. Her reaction was funny - "I didn't know they grew in plastic bags". Eventually they got planted but once Jack made the big bed I moved them all and they are still producing 22 years later.

I think they are expensive everywhere and if people realize how much of the pound they discard (hopefully to compost) then they're paying a great deal more per pound.

We planted seven (I think?) plants in 2012, then I heard here @ ATP that I needed more plants. We planted about 7 or 8 more plants this spring, 2013. Net year will be our first harvest. I love asparagus!

In spring when they start growing again, when to harvest them? Just guess by size of the spear? Then let some fern to produce energy? Am I on the right track?

Karen

Harvest when they're the size you'd like to eat. No need to wait until they're 10 or 12" tall. If the buds open the flavor isn't the same. It's just remembering to look on those busy days that's important. Don't let any go to fern (except the newly planted that need another year) until you're done harvesting for the season. Those ferns grow wide and tall very fast and could prevent you from seeing good spears to enjoy.

We harvest here until the end of June and extend that for emergency asparagus needs knowing time is short. You just don't want to deplete the plants energy by cutting spears into the heat of summer. At the end of the year, after you cut back the ferns as low as you can get, add compost and mulch. They will love you for it.

Even your first few trips to your asparagus beds may not yield many spears but cut them up into the size pieces you'd like and add them to a salad. They are so good. Do try one raw!

Thank you, Pirl. I love raw asparagus.

Karen

When I planted my three plants in April, 2011, they were just tiny plants. In 2012, I did not harvest any spears at all of those plants and those plants became a group 2' wide and 3' tall. Again, in 2013, I harvested none of the spears and now the plants foliage became 5' wide and 6' high. Next year is my year to finally enjoy the harvest. I expect to get enough spears to easily last the summer. I think I had approximately 50 spears with foliage this summer and should have many more next summer. I will do most of my harvesting through June, but since I cage my plants in, forcing the foliage to grow upwards rather than drooping down, I should be able to find edible spears even when I allow the spears to leaf.

We use asparagus in salads (raw) and put them on the grill with a bit of olive oil and minced fresh garlic, and salt/pepper to taste. Next summer my wife has promised to make cream of asparagus soup, leaving small chunks of the tips to cook as well.

It's such a grand indulgence to have "too many" asparagus.

A neighbor down the block loves asparagus but moaned about it taking so long before she could eat them in the third year. I asked her how much she'd miss a plot of grass that's 10' x 10' and she said she wouldn't but she wouldn't plant them due to the waiting. Now it's 15 years later and she could have been enjoying them for 12 years but she has grass instead. Win some, lose some - she lost.

Maybe it's really surprising that she had a total of three children since they "take so long".

This one escapee from the bed headed for the light and this is where it has grown for years. You can see the old stalks from last year.

pirl said:

Maybe it's really surprising that she had a total of three children since they "take so long".

LOL!!!!!!

I started with one plant. This year I separated the crowns. Next year come spring again, I eat.

Yep, you and I are in the same boat - time to harvest what we have grown for three years!

Melissa said:I'm waiting to see if my little plants survived our winter this year. I had about 200 plants... it was much cheaper to start from seed than to buy crowns. I'm going to sow some more though, just in case. ;)

The problem (if it is such) for me is first year asparagus is nigh the thickness of a blade of grass. If you have a hard time getting down to bring nose to dirt to see your 'grass. Then growing a season in 4" pots will help things bulk up.

Asparagus is reliably hearty in Ohio. (heck it was reliably hearty in NH too).

I've grown asparagus from seed since the seventies. Wouldn't do it any other way.

My asparagus isn't producing much this year. Anyone else getting any? Mine was 3 months late starting to grow spears, and I'm lucky if I get 6 a week from 30 plants that are 8 years old.

Ours is finished but we got plenty. Enough for eating and even a bit to sell at market. We have two 50' rows. I wonder why your's ins't producing?

We get more than we can eat so neighbors get them.

Could it be that it's not cold enough in Murchison, TX, during the winter?

I love asparagus but it takes up way too much room to grow in my small garden. Just buy some when I need it. But the stuff is pretty darn expensive. Tasty though!

When I used to live where the yard was small, I tucked asparagus in amongst other plants. It grew great there, and Icould just snap them off.

I plan to grow some. I haven't planted the seeds yet.

If you use seeds, it will take a long time to get some

I think asparagus takes a while, no matter how they are grown. I couldn't find anything but seeds here. If I decide to order online later, then I will just have different stages of asparagus growing. And that I think, works okay for me. And gives me something long-term to look forward to since most veggies are just annuals. That's why I love berries and herbs. Plant them just once and treat them well and they provide year after year. There were times, when I was harvesting blackberries, strawberries, and gold raspberries daily that I was tempted to turn my entire garden into just berries. Those berries are probably still being picked by someone, unless they did a major overhaul of the garden. Some people don't like berries.

My mulberry trees took longer to get a harvest than it takes to harvest asparagus. My fig tree also took a while. I should have been eating those last year, but a friend that promised to care for the plant when I moved here, killed it off. Didn't even tell me about it. When I arrived and saw my 9 foot plant was only a 2 foot stick he was handing me, I was crushed. Nothing I could do about it but get over it. I still plan to grow another fig tree at some point and again wait years to harvest. I don't even know what fresh figs taste like. However, I do know what asparagus taste like and I think they will be worth the wait. If I live that long, I will eat the first harvest steamed with a lot of butter, no matter what diet I am on at the time.