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tyme RE: Asparagus

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

thyme wrote;

>anyone know the SFG spacing for asparagus beds??  i'm dreaming of a time
that i can make perminent beds, and one of the first to go in is going to
be asparagus.  rhubarb and strawberries too!!  maybe next season...<

The following is excerpted from my posting of 5/22/98:

I built two Asparagus beds, each built of 2 Ls with 3 block and 10 block
legs, one inverted, so that they make a rectangle of 26 blocks per course
having 39"X147-1/2" as inside dimensions (without mortar.) Each bed is 3
blocks high, this being necessary due to the poor drainage of my ugly black
clay soil, and contains 11 yearling plants planted at the 2 block height to
be filled up with soil and compost to the 3 block height as they grow this
year. All is going very well so far.

From my research I have decided that Asparagus needs 18" of RICH soil on
either side of the row (rows 3' apart) and AT A MINIMUM 12" to 15" apart in
the row. I have loaded the beds with manure and compost.

Asparagus is a very heavy feeder AND needs lots of room for air circulation
around the plants to prevent what is called "Asparagus Rust" at the base of
the mature foliage. 1 plant per sq ft is a recipe for 3 yrs of hard work
getting the bed started only to see it die off over the next 2-3 yrs. "Been
there, done that!" (Wet winter climate.)

You mentioned the contingent benefit of having, in my case, 52  4"X6" holes
in the concrete blocks as planters, per bed, in which I have planted
spinach, lettuce carrots, Swiss chard, bunching onions, fullsize onions,
chives and strawberries, all doing
well. I plan to set Tomato plants inside the bed with the Asparagus as my
companion planting book says that they do well together, and it is
convenient.

I did not use mortar on my beds as I may be moving in 4 yrs and intend to
take it all with me to whatever new place. It seem that there is a plan
afoot to bulldoze  the neighborhood in which I bought my home last June and
build a mini mall. So....nothing permanent.

My, now, six  4' square beds are
nailed up from whatever scrap lumber I could "acquire" and are doing great.

I hope that my experiences have helped. If your soil is such that it has
good drainage, a one block high bed is fine. I must say, though, that
three (or even four)  blocks is a very convenient height for an old guy.

One comment on the above previous post is that I transplanted Early Girl
tomatoes (indeterminate variety) which, in the rich compost-manure bed, went
JUNGLE.
I will plant a determinate variety if early tomato next year!!!!!!!!!!


Regards,
DT (aka Dore Tyler)  dee_tee@msn.com
Doing his own thing in the privacy of his own garden.
USDA Zone 8b, Tacoma, WA


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