Growing Asparagus

Several years ago, some urban friends made the trek north to visit Rick and I. It was spring, and the asparagus was just finishing up, and their lacy, feathery fronds were taking shape. Our friends were amazed... Eileen commented she was ashamed to say, but she had no idea how asparagus grew. I've since found there's many others like Eileen, unaware of how asparagus grows. So here's a brief lesson on Asparagus. The basics:

• --It's a perenniel plant and lives 15-25 years.
  --"Crowns" are planted in a well-prepared 12-inch trench.
• --What you eat is the spring sprouts of the crown.

--The sprouts grow into 5 foot fern-like plants for the summer.

--The plants feeds the roots, which grows the asparagus next spring.

-- Make sure you pick a fairly large spot that the plants can grow for many years.

-- It takes about 2-3 years to get your first harvest.

--Its fairly maintenance free once planted.
--No chemicals needed! Just a late fall feeding of compost or mushroom soil after the fronds die back and you cut off.

I found a good summary of growing and planting asparagus here. And I found Miller Nurseries in New York to be a reliable, good quality plant mail order company to get the asparagus crowns. And I couldn't resist this informative article on Why Does Asparagus Make your Pee Stink. Enjoy!