Grow Your Own Asparagus

Asparagus is a perennial in Vermont. It puts out new growth from the crown each spring and goes dormant in the winter. Asparagus will not grow in warm humid climates where it cannot reenergize itself by going dormant. Since it is a perennial vegetable, preparing the bed correctly is worth the effort.

Select a site in the vegetable garden that will not be rototilled each spring or use an asparagus bed as a backdrop for your perennial garden. Any good well-drained soil will
be suitable. The bed should be 1ft wide. Using a garden fork or spade, work generous
amounts of compost or manure into the top 1 to 2 feet of the bed. Next dig a trench
1 foot wide by 8 to 10 inches deep and place the asparagus crowns in the bottom,
fanning out the roots, about 12 inches apart. Cover the roots and the crowns with
3 to 4 inches of soil. The whole plant will be buried including the young buds. As
shoots emerge, fill the trench with soil until it is completely filled in.

Do not pick any stalks the first season. In the fall, topdress the beds with manure
that you will work into the bed the following spring. When stalks mature in the second
spring you can harvest a few in April and May. Allow the remainder to leaf out
creating a lovely fern bed. By the third spring you can harvest as much of the
asparagus as you please being sure to stop picking by the middle of June. Plants must
have time to grow and revive themselves before going dormant.

Success with asparagus is easy if you plant it correctly from the start, keep the bed weed free, stop picking by mid-June and apply a good amount of compost to the bed each fall that you work in each spring.

It is easy and quickest to begin by planting 1 year old bare root plants. Horsford Nursery carries ‘Jersey Giant’, ‘Martha Washington’ and ‘Purple Passion’.