mediaOrganic » Asparagus http://www.media-organic.com a journal of suburban sustainability Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:10:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Superphosphate, anyone? Anyone? http://www.media-organic.com/superphosphate-anyone-anyone http://www.media-organic.com/superphosphate-anyone-anyone#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:13:47 +0000 john http://www.media-organic.com/?p=1057 Our asparagus harvest this spring was very disappointing. It is our third year and everything we’ve read told us this would be the first year we would have a full harvest. We harvested some but many of the stalks were thin, not the fat succulent Jersey Giant stalks we had expected. I did a [...]]]> asparagus mid-JulyOur asparagus harvest this spring was very disappointing. It is our third year and everything we’ve read told us this would be the first year we would have a full harvest. We harvested some but many of the stalks were thin, not the fat succulent Jersey Giant stalks we had expected. I did a little research yesterday and discovered that we should have added superphosphate to the furrows when we planted the crowns to promote root growth. Frankly, I think our general problem is that we have not sufficiently amended the soil over the past few years. So far this year we have added organic nitrogen to promote top growth to support photosynthesis but now I’m on a mission to find superphosphate to strengthen the roots. Visits to Lowes and Home Depot resulted in nada. I really need to find a good, comprehensive garden center worthy of my hard-earned $$.

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]]> http://www.media-organic.com/superphosphate-anyone-anyone/feed 2 first asparagus harvested http://www.media-organic.com/first-asparagus-harvested http://www.media-organic.com/first-asparagus-harvested#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:52:00 +0000 john http://media-organic.com/?p=147 Last year we built a raised bed and planted 40 Jersey Giant asparagus plants. Over the summer they all came up and we had a beautiful “wall” of 3-4 ft high fronds. This is now the second season for the plants and supposedly we can do a light harvest so I [...]]]> early season asparagus Last year we built a raised bed and planted 40 Jersey Giant asparagus plants. Over the summer they all came up and we had a beautiful “wall” of 3-4 ft high fronds. This is now the second season for the plants and supposedly we can do a light harvest so I carefully cut about 5 of the stalks to sample. Just like everything else in the garden, fresh asparagus is so much juicier and flavorful than what you get from the store. A gastronomic delight! I can’t wait until next year when we can begin a full harvest.

My one area of concern is the bare patch to the middle right of the bed (see lower photo). Nothing peeking through the ground yet. I think it may be due to the way the sun falls on this bed or that those plants may have been set a little deeper. Given that all the other plants have survived I’m fairly confident that these too will eventually emerge.

 

asparagus bed showing home made chicken deterrent About Jersey Giant: First Male hybrid (90%) asparagus variety released by Rutgers University. Widely adaptable with excellent yields over a wide range of regions. High level of resistance to rust. Good resistance to Fusarium root and crown rot for high yield potential. Excellent spear size and color for fresh market (green spear/purple bracts). Very attractive presentation.

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