Put your cruddy old jeans on because you're going to be getting down in the dirt this weekend. It's asparagus planting time. THIS is the year you're actually going to do it.
Every year you say you wish you grew asparagus and every year you continue to buy bundles wrapped in rubber bands from the store.
Fresh cut, homegrown asparagus can be eaten raw right out of the ground. It tastes very similar to peas when you eat it like this, which I often do as I survey my asparagus plants.
BUT it wasn't always this way because I, like you, kept putting off planting asparagus.
Asparagus is one of those things that everyone (me) seems to put off planting because they (me) hate the fact that they have to wait 15 (actually 2) years to harvest it.
I'm going to convince you by the end of this post to plant some this weekend, because the window for this year is closing.
To reiterate, THIS IS THE YEAR YOU'RE GOING TO FINALLY PLANT ASPARAGUS! GOOYA! (The phrase is similar to Booya, but more like what a baby would say if they scored a touchdown)
Asparagus is a much bigger miracle than a toothless baby quarterbacking in the NFL let me assure you. It's a perennial vegetable that will stay strong and grow bigger and bigger for decades, feeding your family for generations.
Plus it's decorative
Asparagus you see, turns into 4-6' tall ferny plants once it's done producing asparagus in the spring. So you get to eat it all spring and then you just let it do its thing and it'll become a bushy, ferny bed that looks nice and can act like a privacy screen.
Basically asparagus is fantastic all around. But you can't harvest it for the first 2 years. Which is where asparagus loses a lot of people.
The actual job of planting asparagus is easy. It's the waiting that's hard.
Table of Contents
How Does it Grow?
Asparagus can be planted from a seed or from a crown.
What is a crown? The crown is the top knobby part of the asparagus where the shoots will come out of. It has roots coming from the bottom.
The actual asparagus grows above ground from the top knobby bits of the crown. These shoots push up in the spring exactly like you see them in the grocery store as perfect solid spears.
As the season progresses, the stem portion of the asparagus continues to grow and gets taller, and the tip of the asparagus opens up and flowers with long thin branching. By the beginning of summer any asparagus that has been left to grow will develop the long stems and ferny top, often growing as tall as 7'
How to Plant
- Dig a 10" deep trench.
- Add 2" of compost to the trench.
- Make a little mound of soil for each asparagus crown to sit on.
- Spread the roots out.
- Fill the trench in making sure the crowns are covered by 2" of soil.
- Once the asparagus starts to emerge in the spring, add another 2" of soil or compost.
** Unlike strawberries, you want the crown of the asparagus to be under the soil by about 2" **
You buy the asparagus crowns (they look like big spiders) either at a local nursery or through mail order and then you put them in the ground. Easy.
You just have to get over the idea that you won't be able to eat any of it until you're frail and elderly. It's 2 years. You will not be frail and elderly. You probably won't even have cleaned behind your couch by then. You will have asparagus before your next behind-the-couch cleaning. That's not too long to wait is it? No it is not. 2 years isn't a big deal.
Now. Don't you wish when you first thought of planting asparagus that you'd actually done it because you could be picking and eating that asparagus this spring?
Yes. Of course you do, because you're not an idiot. You're just weird about planting asparagus.
Healthy, robust crowns like this will cost you anywhere from $0.75 - $1.50 per crown. I ordered my crowns from a wholesaler that grows the asparagus crowns themselves and got 50 of them for $37.50. Which is cheap. If you're buying them from someone other than a wholesaler expect to pay twice as much.
Most garden centres have asparagus crowns for sale in the spring so grab yourself some of those and start planting.
The first thing you should do is figure out how much you need to buy.
How Much to Grow
Expect to plant around 10 crowns per family member that loves asparagus.
50 plants for a family of 4.
Plant MORE if you want to blanch and freeze asparagus for the winter.
Of course you don't have to plant this much, it's just a guideline.
What Variety Should You Plant?
Asparagus is a dioecious plant. That means there’s boy asparagus and girl asparagus plants.
A girl asparagus plant will produce thinner spears because she’s concentrating on reproducing, which in this case means seed pods and therefore lots of asparagus babies. The only thing cuter than an asparagus baby is a cabbage baby.
Male asparagus plants on the other hand don’t care one whit about making babies they just want to grow up big and strong themselves. So they only concentrate on making big, thick spears. Male plants don’t have to produce seeds so none of their energy goes towards producing them. It only goes towards making spears.
Up until 20 or so years ago all asparagus varieties produced both male and the less desirable female plants. Then agricultural scientists made a break though and created a hybrid asparagus plant that was ONLY male.
For generations the most popular variety of asparagus was Martha Washington but the all male varieties have now taken over in popularity.
"Guelph Millennium" one of the most popular and productive all male varieties is what I grow. Other male varieties are the Jersey collection: Jersey Supreme, Jersey Giant or Jersey Knight.
Millennium was developed over the course of 12 years at the University of Guelph in Canada. The other thing about all male hybrid asparagus plants is they don’t self seed which in the case of a hybrid is good. When a hybrid plant self seeds you don’t get an exact reproduction of the original plant, you get a version of the original plant which is always a weaker, worse version.
With female plants you constantly have self seeding happening which is why your asparagus bed will spread so quickly, but it’s spreading with an inferior product.
White, Purple or Green
WHITE asparagus is the same thing as green asparagus. It’s just been grown in darkness which means it doesn’t develop the green colour because it doesn’t develop chlorophyll. If you want white asparagus just mound soil over it as it grows so the spears never see the light of day.
PURPLE asparagus is a variety of asparagus that grows purple all on its own without doing anything special to it. The same way some tomato varieties are different colours this asparagus variety is a different colour.
GREEN asparagus is regular old asparagus.
When to Plant
They can be put in the ground as soon as you can get out into the garden and work the soil in the early spring.
You want to plant asparagus crowns while they're still dormant and not showing any signs of growth.
As long as your beds aren't goopy with mud or frozen sold you'll be fine.
Growing Tips
- Asparagus grows best in zones 4-9
- Plant 10 crowns per family member.
- Dig a 10" deep trench.
- Add 2" compost to your trench before planting.
- Plant crowns 15" - 18" apart on mounds of soil with the roots spread out.
- Cover crowns with 2" of soil.
- Add another 2" of soil when shoots first emerge.
- Let your asparagus patch grow for 2 years before harvesting.
- On mature plants only pick shoots that are bigger in diameter than a pencil.
- Don't cut the fronds at the end of the season until they have all died back.
- Replenish the soil of your patch every year with a 2" thick layer of compost to the top.
I eat from my asparagus patch in the spring until the sight of asparagus triggers my gag reflex. At that point I blanch and freeze it to use in the winter for making soup, quiche or even roasted.
See? Not so hard. You just need to know a few things. It's the same story for another vegetable that confounds people - zucchini. Did you know that it only has 1 stem and you should stake it like a tomato? If you do that it'll only take up about 1.5 square feet in your garden instead of becoming a sprawling mess. You can learn how to grow zucchini properly in this post of mine.
Get the roasted asparagus recipe here.
Do those things and you'll be eating asparagus in no time.
Well ... in 2 years actually. Which will seem like 15. But there's NO RULE that says you can't snap off and sample a few spears in those first 2 years to satisfy your curiosity.
Gooya.
Kim
Ok, everything was nice and clear to me and while I'm not crazy about asparagus I think I may like to have those big ferny fronds in my garden........one question though.......why in Gods name should I pee on my compost?
Jani
karen! Thanks for the detailed instructions. I remember my sister in law bringing bags full to my Mom because my brother would get out his mower and run over them!! Idiot!
Jody
How do you grow white asparagus? And a silly comment--while slowly scrolling down reading your blog for the briefest of moments I thought the photo of you crouched over the bed with your hood up was actually you with crazy blond hair coming out of your hood. Silly, I know.
Karen
Hi Jody! To grow asparagus that's white you just mound it up so it doesn't get any light. :) ~ karen!
Dannyelle www.lifeisaparty.ca
I have planted asparagus the last two years -they never seem to grow for me. I went to the trouble of soaking them first last year, because I read on-line it would help. Still no asparagus, and I'm surely due. So where did you get yours? Mine was from the nursery, but it didn't have those little asparagus baby buds like yours did in the picture. Mine looked like dried up giant spiders. Is it hard to grow?...or just me. I want some asparagus.
Karen
Hi Dannyelle! I had a lot of trouble when I first tried to grow asparagus which was about 10 years ago. I did the same as you and bought some crowns from my local garden centre. There were many reasons they didn't grow including putting them where there wasn't enough sun and then trying to move them from here to there. These last crowns were from laurealt.com a wholesaling company out of Quebec that grows all their own plants. Having them form tiny asparagus was just a fluke and in fact it's better to get crowns where that hasn't happened yet because it proves they're still dormant. Mine were shipped a bit late for some reason, hence they had just started to break dormancy. ~ karen!
Michele S
I just planted my asparagus patch this year! Already I have a few little spears poking up. I know I can't eat them - but am I supposed to do anything to them at all? Just let them sit there, waving in the breeze?
So excited for 2018 when I can actually eat them!
Karen
Let 'em wave Michele, lol. You can add the straw mulch on top to keep weeds down and a good moisture level, but if you've planted them your job is done for the year. :) It's all up to them now. ~ karen!
Meredith
I weeded my asparagus bed last night. Stupid thistles. I always planted in rows, like every guidebook said. But! The best asparagus bed I ever saw was a raised bed in someone's yard that was about 8 feet long by 6 feet wide and it was SOLID asparagus. No orderly rows, just coming up everywhere.....no empty spaces. I have to think that was a better way to go about it because there simply wasn't room for weeds to come in.
Karen
Hi Meredith! It could have been that the bed was just old and the asparagus had all filled in. That's the reason you leave so much space in between the asparagus plants when you first plant them. Because over time to get so big they'll fill that space in. :) ~ karen!
Mary W
I don't understand the stop picking from mature plants when the tips are pencil sized. I would think that is when I should start picking. I know the larger stalks taste better so are you saying naughty girl - stop picking the pencil ones until they grow larger? or are you saying I should not pick anymore until I divide the plant. I'm not growing any in Florida but inquiring minds, you know.
Karen
Hey Mary! Sorry, I should have been clearer. As the plant grows throughout the spring the asparagus spears get weaker and smaller. After around 4 weeks of producing asparagus or so. Once they start to diminish to the size of a pencil, stop picking them for the season. :) ~ karen!
Katie Schneider
We're talking diameter, not length. Early on, they're thick and get thinner as the season goes. (So dirty!)
Karol
All I have to say is God Bless Farmers! You know how you look at some people and their jobs and say, "I would never do that!" That's what I think about farming. My father's family is FULL of farmers, and it's a tough row to hoe, ironically speaking. But God Bless 'em, and anyone else who dedicates their lives to growing food for the rest of us. And wow! Two years for asparagus! Who knew.
Gail Blain Peterson
Our asparagus bed is 3 years old -- so worth the wait!!
Judith
Gooya! I am actually, at the time of this writing, awaiting a shipment of asparagus crowns to plant in my newly dug bed. The talk I had with myself was pretty much the talk you just had with us - if I'd just gone ahead and done this a couple years ago when it first occurred to me we'd be eating asparagus right now! Great minds think alike!
p.s. A motion to start peeing on the compost has been submitted at the last two family garden discussions. Oddly, the family member possessing the appendage that would make this the easiest is not at all enthusiastic.
Alice
It was pointed out somewhere that anyone can pee in a jar -- in private -- and take the contents out to the compost...
Judith
Oh yeah! That system's been in place here for a while. I just always assumed dudes got a kick out of doing their business in new and challenging places. Turns out there are limits! ?
Jenifer
Omg...how funny! Tell him to take one for the team...we all have to do our part! :D
Judith
Exactly!
Ann
A couple of quick things to add. It is better to grow an all male variety of asparagus. The females put a lot of their precious plant energy into blooming and setting seed. The all male variety does not. I have asparagus all over my property now because I did not get the all male kind. But luckily the volunteer plants are giving me big fat spears every spring and I pick as much of those as I do the original plants .
,Another hint is to make sure you won't end up with a lot of weed competition. They hate fighting for nutrients with other plants. That is where a good mulching program comes into play
Dee
I love asparagus! I'm planning to plant some crowns next year. What variety did you plant? The only thing I dread is the little beetles the ferny foliage attracted when I had them at my last property, but I think you can just blast those buggers off with a garden hose.
Karen
Hi Dee. This is an all male variety developed at the University of Guelph called Millennium. ~ karen!
Keely
Or to be even cheaper you can easily grow them from seed! You can find the seed anywhere (maybe even behind your couch). I live in zone 2a and they do fine in my garden with no protection, although I do not cut them down.
Liz
Novice Alert! Just planted asparagus for the first time, but after reading your post, I don't think I planted enough. So, do they multiply like tulips or do I have to plant more next year, and wait three years for a substantial harvest? Oh dear, I'm afraid I'll have to wait forever!
Karen
Hi Liz. The plants don't necessarily multiply like tulips but they do get bigger and bigger every year. Like a hosta. And you can eventually split asparagus plants the same. So you'll end up with a good amount of asparagus it'll just take you longer to get there if you didn't plant a lot. ~ karen!
Carey
We planted last year. My question is, do you cut down all the ferns in the winter? I'm in So Cal where we have a long growing season. Thanks, Karen!
Karen
Hi Carey! I'm not sure about California, but I imagine it would be the same. Once the tops die back you can clip them. But there isn't any real need to and in fact some people like to leave them until the spring so they can see where their asparagus plants will be sprouting from. :) ~ karen!
Carey
Thanks! I couldn't find any info about the ferns, and what the heck to do wiht them. :)
Marna
I use to grow asparagus years ago, like about 25, but my husband got tired of looking at the plant. I loved it for both the plant and eating. It was so nice to just go out and pick a few or a bunch just before dinner. My husband dug it up, he wanted the garden smaller. It was pretty large, and it became too much for me to do after having my third son plus I worked full time. Looks like you will have a bunch in the future, yum! :)
Nancy Blue Moon
2 years...I did not know this thing....
Paula
Where did you buy it? Everywhere that I have looked has been sold out for this year.
Karen
I bought it in November Paula. :/ You do have to order early for any crops like strawberries, asparagus or other perennial types. I got it from http://www.lareault.com. ~ karen!
Paula
I got my asparagus to plant this year. I have two questions that are related to our climate because it is difficult to find info specifically for Ontario (sometimes). How much sun do they need? and what are their water requirements?
Thanks!
Karen
Hi Paula. I'm pretty "fend for yourself" when it comes to vegetables. I've been known to water in the very, very hot spells of summer, but it isn't something I do often. And other than lettuces in the heat of summer I plant everything and anything in full sun (8 hours per day min.). Sorry, I'm sure this answer isn't much help to you! ~ karen
Cred
Yay! Already did it. I planted them in 2014 and thus my first harvest. So excited! And they're delicious!
Susan Esch
Very nicely done. When I start craving asparagus, I can read and reread your post. Surely it will help time fly! Gooya.