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kydaylilylady

Asparagus-long.

kydaylilylady
17 years ago

Since Chris asked about asparagus I thought I'd just start another topic.

When we bought our place several years ago, by the time we got possession of it there was this huge weed field in back of the house. I was pretty sure that's where the daylily field was going to be but I wasn't sure about exactly what was out in that rascal. We borrowed my father's small JD tractor, belly mower and tiller and revved it up. I'm sure if he'd known exactly where it was going he'd have died right then. As we started down through the 9 ft. tall weeds I noticed this stuff that looked like it was in a row. I was raised with asparagus so at least I knew what it looked like. I was quite pleased to find that I had 2 fifty foot rows in the mess. I also discovered two rows of thornless blackberries in amongst the mess. Couldn't have been happier.

As far as asparagus, if the stalks are spindley and on the shorter side I suspect that the asparagus hasn't been there that long. Probably only a year or two. Usually you buy plants and according to the directions dig a trench 6-8 inches deep. As the asparagus starts to grow you back fill the trench. You don't cut the asparagus at all the first year. It will get not much bigger than knee to waist tall. I know only because I bought another 12 plants this past spring.

The second year you can cut sparingly. The stalks will be spindly, probably not as big as a pencil. I personally wouldn't cut it more than two weeks. Supposedly the third year you can cut it longer. By the fourth year you should be able to cut it the entire season, which for us it about the middle of April through about the first to middle of June. Then you let it grow up to store reserves for the winter.

Asparagus is a pretty heavy feeder. I usually give it a dose of 10-10-10 in March about the time I first fertilize the daylilies. It's certainly not minded it. It also likes rich organic matter. My grandfather used to put the chicken litter on it and it would go wild. I also use the Snapshot to help keep the weeds down. Read on my Fusilade DX jug that you can also use that on it to keep down the grass. You can bet it's getting a dose of it next summer.

Chris, I'd say that your asparagus is young if it's short and spindley. Mature stalks can be bigger than a man's thumb and when left to grow will get at least six ft. tall.

Give it a couple years of care and you'll enjoy fresh asparagus in the spring for decades with a little care. You'll also see seedlings pop up here and there in the daylily beds. The birds love to scatter them. You can just lift them and put them where you want them.

Janet

Comments (5)

  • maximus7116
    17 years ago

    Thanks, Janet. I might go out and take a picture for you to look at.

    The confusing thing is that our parcel is 10 acres (think of all that room for daylilies!) of a 100-acre spread that hasn't been farmed in many, many years. The owner/widow died about five years ago, so I can't imagine anyone would have planted this asparagus since then. It's really in the middle of nowhere.

    What happens if you have a patch that goes untended and unharvested for some time? Or is there such a thing as wild asparagus?

    One last question -- should I cut it back now, or let it go?

    Thanks! Chris

  • kydaylilylady
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I'd say that if the asparagus was mowed off in the middle of the year it'd grow back shorter. I'd also be willing to bet that over a period of time doing that each year the stalks would get spindly. If your plants are in a row it was definately planted at some point in time. If it's hodge podge here and there it's seedlings.

    Asparagus will come up wherever a bird drops a seed. My father has some in a fence row that I know has been there 30 years.

    I'm cutting mine back now just because I had the labor available this week. You could wait until several freezes have killed the top growth and do it then or if you just can't get to it until spring I'd make it one of my first garden chores because it's one of the first vegetables that you'll see coming on.

    No one plants asparagus just because it looks like a fun thing to grow. Digging the trench takes effort and waiting for your first harvest and not taking too much takes patience. A little care though sure will make some good future eating.

    Janet

  • maximus7116
    17 years ago

    You know, I bet it did get mowed over during the summer. We bought the land through an auction, and I'm pretty sure they mowed the fields so people could walk the properties prior to the sale.

    Most of the asparagus does appear to grow in a long row, but I've noticed random plants all over. Must be those littering birds!

    Think I'll cut it back now before it gets too cold. I always wanted an asparagus patch, but never had the patience to wait a few years for the harvest.

    Thanks a million, Janet.

  • flower_lover5
    17 years ago

    Janet definitely knows what she's talking about :)

    I planted & grew asaparagus quite a few years ago. The patch always did very well while under my care for many years. I used to sprinkle salt on the patch every year - heard that it helped keep the weeds down & the asparagus liked it. It sure didn't seem to hurt it!!!
    Anyway, after divorcing, the ex did not take care of it too well and mowed it down all the time, so the patch basically no longer exists. There's still some spindley stuff that comes up, but nothing worth cutting.

    Boy was that some good eating, though :~)
    Funny thing, but everytime I would cut it, my Beagle would walk along with me & eat the scraps (the tough ends I would snip off as I cut). Who would think that a dog would like raw asparagus!!! But then Beagles like many veggies - she also liked green beans, cucumbers & sweet corn straight from the garden. She picked her own sweet corn - she'd walk down the row & smell each ear until she found the one she wanted. Then she'd take it into the yard and holding it with her front paws, she'd shuck it with her teeth. Then she'd start eating & she could clean that cob off better than any person - wouldn't leave one single kernel :)

    Back to the subject, I'd say your asparagus just needs a little TLC.

    Tammy

  • kydaylilylady
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Don't know that I would recommend sprinkling salt regularly on the patch. Although it certainly does work as armies of the past used to salt the fields of the conquered to starve them out, I'd be scared that the build up of the salts would come back to haunt me at some point in the future. I am going to try a layer of mulch this year. Our trash dump down here grinds up tree trimmings etc. and gives the mulch away free. I put some on my blackberries and it sure helped with the weeds and watering this year. I'm going to try a few inches on the asparagus and see if I can keep the foxtail, hogweeds and smartweed down this year.

    Janet

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