Asparagus bed

[rhoda_bruce]

Wanted asparagus for many years. Well DH ate some fresh at our DD's apartment last week and he decided I need an asparagus bed, if it taste that much better than canned. Can't imagine how good it is if its better than canned, but then again, most vegs are better fresh. So he just formed our bed....its 76 sq ft. He claims he red on a forum that they each need a foot a piece, so I just ordered 70 year old plants. Would have gotten 2 year old, but he read that they will want the soil they had grown in and we won't have it.....made me feel like I was taking a toddler away from its natural mother.
So very soon, I may have the only asparagus bed in town. I'll do everything by the book and hope for the best.
Do any of my SS friends here have asparagus beds? I would like to know who to fall back on for moral support when problems arise.

 

[elijahboy]

wow 70 year old plants

mine took 3 years to get to be a decent size

 

[citylife]

I planted an asparagus bed last year and just saw an hour ago it is already breaking soil and I am so happy. And yes, fresh asparagus is way way better then canned. Now, I just get to dig them back up and move them to my new house. LOLOL Just the luck.

 

[elijahboy]

that shepherd is so fricking gorgeous

I planted an asparagus bed last year and just saw an hour ago it is already breaking soil and I am so happy. And yes, fresh asparagus is way way better then canned. Now, I just get to dig them back up and move them to my new house. LOLOL Just the luck.

 

[citylife]

that shepherd is so fricking gorgeous

I planted an asparagus bed last year and just saw an hour ago it is already breaking soil and I am so happy. And yes, fresh asparagus is way way better then canned. Now, I just get to dig them back up and move them to my new house. LOLOL Just the luck.

Thank you very much. She is my Love! I wanted to be a mommy and refuse to add to the 8 million dogs put to sleep every year, so I got ahold of a shepherd rescue and volunteered to be a foster mom to a pregnant shepherd.
Mom had 10 surviving puppies. wow! I took the calmest puppy in the litter. All were amazing and are the same kind of adult dog. I started taking her to a nursing home at 6 weeks old. The got to see her grow to 85 lbs. She was even allowed in the alzhiemers unit. I took her there till she was just over a year old.

It was great for her! And amazing for the residents and staff.
What truely is sad though, is she was destined to die at a shelter. Thank god the rescue could take her mom in so I could raise everyone and get the mom dog back into health.
It was worth all 10 weeks of it.

 

[Denim Deb]

If you're going to have 70 plants, you'll probably be able to sell some!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Maybe on the selling, but not sure. John Seymore suggests 10 plants/family member and we have 5 children, plus some extended family we barter with and an awesome neighbor and a live in MIL. That's was the suggested amt in "The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it" but I have no idea how much produce that amt of plants will eventually give me.
I do love canned, so I can process some for the rest of the year, but from what I read and what all DH bragged on the fresh stuff, maybe I won't be liking canned as much anymore.
I might be able to sell and barter with another item when the time comes.

 

[Dawn419]

If you're going to have 70 plants, you'll probably be able to sell some!

Now that's just plain cruel, Deb! Sell off your fresh asparagus?

We love it steamed and I love love love it straight out of the garden...no cooking involved. Can't really describe the flavor other than scrumptious!

Which variety/ties did you get, Rhoda? Just curious. I've got 1 clump that I moved with me from TN and it's a Mary Washington which is an open pollinated. All I can find around here for sale is hybrids so I'm going to eventually have to break down and order some roots.

 

[Denim Deb]

Dawn, I don't know how to ship them, but I'll be thinning my bed this year. (Just haven't gotten to it yet, but need to B4 they get active.) I think mine are Martha Washington. If I have some extra, and can learn how to ship them, and it's legal, I'll send you a dozen roots or so.

 

[Mart]

Maybe on the selling, but not sure. John Seymore suggests 10 plants/family member and we have 5 children, plus some extended family we barter with and an awesome neighbor and a live in MIL. That's was the suggested amt in "The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it" but I have no idea how much produce that amt of plants will eventually give me.
I do love canned, so I can process some for the rest of the year, but from what I read and what all DH bragged on the fresh stuff, maybe I won't be liking canned as much anymore.
I might be able to sell and barter with another item when the time comes.

What is wonderful about asparagus is the time of year that it is harvested. You eat it in Spring when nothing else is growing and it just tastes like Spring to me. It encourages you to work in the rest of the garden. They are one of my favourites in the garden.

If you have too many then just can them yourself. You would need a pressure canner for that as it's not very acidic. Then you could have a taste of them in the middle of winter.