Growing guide

ASPARAGUS

SITUATION: Best suited to cool or mild climates, Asparagus is quite easily grown and when established, will continue to produce for 15-20 years. Asparagus adapts well to most soils with good drainage, but for permanent plantings they are best in a deeply dug, friable soil to which has been added liberal quantities of organic matter.

Asparagus crowns

TIME OF PLANTING: June to August. Plant at the bottom of a trench 20 cm deep and about 25 cm wide. Cover with 5 cm of soil.
WHILE GROWING: When the plants begin to shoot, gradually fill in the trench but always keep the growing tip above the surface. The Asparagus crowns we supply are two years old, and because they do not reach full bearing until the fourth year, no spears should be cut in the first year after planting. This will allow plants to become established and ensure a good crop of spears year after year. Spears can be cut over a period of about ten weeks from the time they first appear in early spring. Growth may be rapid, and it may be necessary to cut every two or three days. Green spears are cut from flat beds when 15-20 cm long and before the tips start to open. For white Asparagus, soil should be hilled up to about 20 cm over the row in late winter. White spears are harvested by pushing a knife into the soil and cutting the spears 15 cm below. Spears will keep in the crisper tray of your refrigerator for several days, or alternatively, can be boiled for several minutes and placed in the freezer.

AFTER HARVESTING: Leave fern to grow on until it turns yellow in winter, and then cut off at ground level. Soil which has been hilled up can then be levelled, cultivated and refertilised in preparation for hilling up again in late winter before the new season’s crop begins.



 

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