Companion Planting: Asparagus

Companion planting is placing one plant near another to get better results, or making sure one plant grows far away from another because they might cause problems for each other.



If you are starting to plant asparagus now, here's what goes well with it:

• parsley


• basil


• tomatoes

Remember - never cut asparagus spears from the first year, and only a couple in the second and a few more in the third. The fourth year - have at it! As for the foliage, never cut it until the Fall because that provides the nourishment for next year's crop of spears.

Asparagus Came Back!

I don't really care for asparagus but Hubby does, and I do dehydrate it to crush into a powder and add it where I can hide it.

So last year (2008) we purchased 6 bedding plants from a nursery. Not just the roots, the actual plants. We didn't know exactly where to plant them (since they are quite permanent) so we stuck 2 per trash can/bucket. They ferned out great, and even gave out some stalks which we didn't eat (never the first and rarely the second year). In the Fall, we cut them back, and stored them in our family room for the Winter.

Not long ago, we noticed a little green shoot in one of the trash buckets. We placed the three buckets outside, watered them, and waited.

This is a picture of what they look like today! See? You CAN container garden!

We planted lettuce today. Finally.

I've been meaning to plant our square-foot raised-bed garden for weeks now... at least the carrots, onions, spinach and lettuce. One thing after another prevented me. Today I got tired of waiting. We're expecting a storm tonight and some tomorrow, so I grabbed the seed tapes I'd made, some other seeds, my map (plan of the bed), markers and trowel, and hit the backyard.

It was time to follow the plan pictured to the right.

First I had to weed the bed again, as the bindweed had overtaken everything again. Then I had to replace the yarn where the puppy had broken it in his joyful leapings. Then Hubby came out (he was doing weed pulling in the front) and we started with the carrot seed tapes, then moved to the okra, lettuce, beets, swiss chard, etc. I still need to make seed tapes for the spinach and a couple of other lettuces, and some more onions.

(We are making a change to the plan - instead of the 4 different summer squashes, we're planting all 4 squares with the fordhook zucchini squash.)

Then I grabbed the package of asparagus we bought at a local nursery and Hubby helped there too, in the second raised bed where there is already 5 strawberry and one blueberry plant. If it doesn't rain tonight or tomorrow, I'll get out the water hose.

Gee, we really hope the new owners appreciate all of the work we're doing to this place to make it more "marketable". And I really really REALLY hope we can eat at least some of the harvest before we move!

How to Grow Asparagus

To the right is a picture of the asparagus we started in 2008 from 2 year roots. We used the small trash cans, 2 plants per container, because we weren't sure where to plant them, and weren't sure if we'd be staying in this house. Good thing we did! These asparagus plants are already (April 2009) showing new growth, after spending the Winter indoors.

Asparagus is a great food plant to grow. It's a perennial (will grow back year after year), and provides great nutrition:

This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. However, a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

In a square foot raised bed garden, you can grow 2 plants per square foot, with a little room to spare. Space about 6 inches apart. It fits well in a permanent bed laid out against a fence (to avoid it getting mowed down or trampled on throughout the years). Place it where it will get full sun. A raised bed, 2 feet by 8 feet would work well, and will provide room for 32 asparagus plants - more than enough asparagus for a family of 4.

We think it's best to grab some 2-year-old roots to plant from a nursery so you won't have to wait a full three years before your first big harvest.

How to plant:

• Start your seeds approximately 12 weeks before the last Spring frost. Soak seeds through the night before. The next day, start seeds in jiffy pellets or peat pots about 1/2 inch deep.
• About 6 weeks before the last Spring frost, prepare your planting bed. (1) Prepare the soil by tilling soil 1 1/2 feet down and adding compost ... (and take a chance that the lawn mower will not hurt the asparagus in the long run!). OR (2) Buy wood to make a raised bed (preferred). Lay a half-inch-thick layer of black-and-white newspaper along the bottom. Fill with good soil and compost.
• Water the newly prepared soil to moisten. Mark off each square foot (I use a brightly colored yarn and nails).
• Three weeks before the last Spring frost, transplant your seedlings - remember, 2 per square, but be sure to space them out to give each one room to breathe and grow. OR transplant the 2-year-old-roots. For roots: move the soil around so that in the spot where you plan to plant each asparagus root, you'll have a mound. Place the asparagus root on top of the mounded soil in the trench (see the picture). Place the long tentacles part in first and spread them out as much as possible. The pointed part of the asparagus root should be facing upward. Place 6 inches of good soil on top (not fresh compost - it may burn the root).
• Gently tamp down the soil, well enough to get the air pockets out but not so much to crush the roots/plants.
• Water the asparagus patch well. They need a good drink. Be sure to water once a week, and maybe a little more often during the hot days of Summer.
• When the foliage turns yellow in the Fall, cut it all down (before the asparagus berries ripen - which will prevent self-seeding with results that aren't great). They will come back in the early Spring, ready for harvesting in the late Spring.
• In the first year after planting, you may be tempted to snip your asparagus spears but don't. You need to let it go until at least the 2nd year (some places recommend the 3rd).
• In the second year after planting, harvest only a few asparagus spears. Choose the largest, and using a serrated knife or very sharp shears, cut just above the soil.
• Harvest when spears are 4-6 inches long. Any longer than that and they will be woody and a little tough.

Enjoy!