Asparagus

My family didn’t grow asparagus when I was a child since it wasn’t popular in Ukraine as food and where it was grown, it was used in bouquets. It took me a time to acquire a taste and to enjoy this vegetable, but after I began to plant and raise it in my garden.

Asparagus grows in most any soil as long as it has good drainage. Grow the asparagus in a warm, sunny place sheltered from the wind and it’ll gives you a better harvest and higher quality sprout. Asparagus does not like too wet or cold, dense, acidic soils. You can grow the asparagus for about 20 years in one place. Plant them from April to late May after the soil has warmed up to about 50 degrees F and cover the crowns with 3-4 cm ( 1.5-2 in) of soil. Space them about 20 –30 cm apart (12 in). For growing white asparagus you’ll need more space than for the green. If you’ll start your asparagus with seeds,they take 5-6 weeks to germinate and another 3 years of growing before the first harvest so for that reason I recommend starting from 1-2 year old seedlings. When buying crowns, look for fresh, firm-fleshed roots.

If it’s hot outside, asparagus may need to be harvested every day, or if it’s cold, then every three days.

At the end of the harvest allow the asparagus plants to form ferns. These help transfer energy to the roots for good spear development the next season. Before the frosts cut all the shoots low.

Last year I read that if you cover with a box the place where young shoots of asparagus will grow, then asparagus will be white, tender and very tasty when you’ll cook it. I’m going to try it this year and see what happens!

In the early spring, when people want to lose weight and eat something healthy and seasonal, you can’t find a better and tastier dish than a dish with asparagus 🙂