Asparagus Time: Growing Tips

Asparagus, no matter if it is a vegetable, has no place in the vegetable garden. The vegetable garden is a place of intensive gardening, where the soil is often turned over, but asparagus hates disturbance. This vegetable prefers to be left alone. So, the ideal location for asparagus would be in a quiet environment where the soil is not turned over and the neighbors stay put for years, like… the perennial bed. This is doubly true in that asparagus is a very pretty plant, with tall stems up to 1.5 m (5 ft) high and finely cut leaves: a veritable living lace. And in this lace we see the appearance of small greenish-white flowers followed, if the asparagus plant is a female, by small red fruits.

In fact, asparagus doesn’t produce leaves, but cladodes, modified stems. However, you need to be patient when growing asparagus. If you plant it this spring, you’ll have to wait until spring in 2 years’ time to get a real harvest worthy of the name. A good reason not to delay your planting!

Growing Asparagus

Asparagus seeds can be sown (in which case the first harvest won’t be for another 4 years!), but most people prefer to plant 2-year-old seedling called “crowns”. Plant crowns in rich, loose, deep soil, in full sun or part shade, putting a little mycorrhizae (beneficial fungi) on the roots. Water well and mulch deeply (asparagus does not tolerate hoeing, and mulch will help keep the soil weed-free). It’s estimated that an asparagus plant will yield crops for 15 to 20 years, so find a location where there will be little disturbance for all that time.

Maintenance

Asparagus requires little maintenance other than cutting back dead stems in spring. It can also be watered in dry weather, and loves an annual composting.

Harvest

New shoots (turions) are harvested in spring by cutting or breaking them off at the base. The shoots come in quick succession, and can often be harvested daily. When the new shoots start to get thinner than a finger, the harvesting season is over for the year. Let the remaining shoots flourish, and they’ll give the plant the energy it needs for next year’s production.

---

Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This article on growing asparagus was originally published in Le Soleil on May 6, 2020.