I decided to reserve the far bed in my garden for a perennial planting of asparagus and thornless blackberries. I picked up ten asparagus crowns at The Natural Gardener earlier this week and chose UC-72, the variety that they recommend for Central Texas. I have grown asparagus before in Wisconsin, but the planting guide that The Natural Gardener provided had some useful advice.
The prepped asparagus bed, prior to planting.
First, I prepped the beds by digging two trenches in one of my raised beds about 10″ deep. Then I added some compost.
The asparagus crown laid out just prior to planting.
Asparagus crown over ridge in trench.
Before putting in the crowns I made a ridge down the middle of the trench. I placed half of the roots on either side of the ridge.
After I placed the crowns I covered them back up with about two inches of soil. This still left the height of the trench a couple of inches below the level of the bed. As the asparagus grows I will add the rest of the soil back, bringing the trench up to the original level.
Asparagus bed after planting.
It will take three years for the plants to reach full production. This year I can’t harvest anything, and next year I can only harvest a few of the larger shoots. I’ll extend my drip system to keep these plants thriving through the hot Austin summer so that they can build up their root mass.