I bought crowns of Jersey Knight. They were mostly male plants with fatter stalks. A few do make seeds, so I think they must be the females. I've been saying that I should harvest and plant some of the berries when they turn orange in the fall, but haven't done it. Asparagus needs a lot of water. Mine didn't do much, although it was alive, until I put down those black leaky hoses and mulched the whole patch heavily with grass clippings (no chemicals). The leaky hoses get them wet enough and the clippings hold the moisture in the soil and also break down to feed the plants. There was a marked improvement after that, and I even have some volunteer plants between the rows.
