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Broccoli - Asparagus

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

BROCCOLI-

It's a member of the cabbage family.  Watch for a medium
sized (1 1/2") wingspread white butterfly with random spots.
Called, 'cabbage butterfly.' Not terribly terrible, but not
very desireable either, in this case.  They aren't fast,
and fly in a jerky pattern.

Slugs and snails, a band of copper, purchased from a garden
store, or COPPER type plumbers tape/strapping.  Or a plastic
bender board, impregnated with copper.  Instead of banding
the whole garden if all you can get is expensive stuff,
bend it around a can, foe ach plant.  Usually is 15-20 ft
strips.
------------------------------------------------------
ASPARAGUS.
I'm doing this this year.  My skill level is low, and I
ignore my garden too much.  I do OK, by strenuous reading.
What they say is soil prep.  I hear a solid foundation
is the root of house, business, family, education...
why not plants... And I read up, since I'm ignorant.

You heard about the ditch method.
Got that?  OK.  (If not, holler.)

Spacing (non Sq Ft) 18 in apart x 12 " min.
This is 1 1/2 Sq Ft.
Maybe you could go 1 per Square.
But... better really REALLY prep soil right.
Maybe a decade's worth!  (No kidding.)

Soil.  Work and amend a foot or more deep.
Lotsa organics.
This means 1/4 is amendments, normally.
1/3 if poor.  1/2 if rotten.  Clay is usually OK for
nutrients, but has rotten consistency.  Asperagus
wants a light soil.  These tender shoots must
break through... clay?! My guess is, not.
For clay, make sure to amend.  No sand!
You'll make a gritty brick.  Vermiculite
or perlite if you want. Peat, test for pH tho'
if a lot is used. Peat lowers pH.  Once you amend,
if you plant because they arrived in the mail,
you can still test, because the upper layers aren't
in place.  But better to test N,P,K,pH first.
A $15 kit will test 10 times. Also add 5-10-10
per 100 Sq Ft. (Standard low N starter fertilizer.)
This is a high intensity plant, and you're compounding
that with close planting.  Don't cheat on digging,
making the soil rather a light mix, or amending
with sufficient (1/2 minimum???) compost/,manure/etc.
You pick nothing the first year, alittle the second,
third year is OK. So if you mess up at the beginning,
you set yourself back a long while.  25 plants I
would say 24 squares and 1 in a pot for a
housefern/conversation piece to replant if 1
fails in the plot.  Companion plants?  You don't
have enough complexity here?  LOL
Ideal climate, soil freezes a few inches deep.
Heat is OK.  Roots must not dry out.
Cheat on something else.  Oh, Buy during
bareroot time.  NOW. Any specific questions?
(Wish US luck! :>)
Zone 10 USDA, coastal.
Bill

If we do OK, I'll tell you what to do in 6 months.. LOL.

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