Re: Asparagus Planted!

Beth,

There's only the two of us (myself and hubbie), and there's more than enough
to eat!  There's probably enough for four.  The only drawback is that I can
only harvest up until the end of May (MA, zone 5) because you're supposed to
let the spears mature so that they feed their roots for the next season.
When the spears mature and fronds develop, is when I see the asparagus
beetles come around.  The beetles themselves are orange, and are pretty easy
to see.  Their "eggs" are small and brown; they look like thistle.  You can
see them attached to the fronds.

The fronds grow to eye level (I'm 5'10"), so it's not too hard to seek them
out.  Just need a bit of patience.  The best thing is to pick the
eggs/beetles before the eggs turn into larva.  The larva are about 1/4-1/2"
long.  I usually just pick the end of the frond with the larva, and stuff
that into the bottle with the soap solution to kill them.

hope this helps.

Rene.



-----Original Message-----
From: Grem, Beth A <GremEA@navair.navy.mil>
To: 'veggie-list@eskimo.com' <veggie-list@eskimo.com>
Date: Thursday, April 08, 1999 1:03 PM
Subject: RE: Asparagus Planted!


>Rene,
>
>  I planted 23 roots (ordered 25- was 2 short!).  How many people do your
25
>feed?? In other words, is 25 enough for two people?  Also, where do the
>asparagus beetles attack?  Where should I look for them and their eggs??
>
>Thanks,
>Beth (MD zone 7)
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Rene M. Lipshires [r*@ibm.net]
>Sent: Thursday, April 08, 1999 12:50 PM
>To: veggie-list@eskimo.com
>Subject: Re: Asparagus Planted!
>
>
>I had planted asparagus 4 years ago, Last year was the first "full harvest"
>year.  We have about 25 asparagus plants, and the spears are absolutely
>delicious!  so much different from the supermarket.
>
>these past few years, the asparagus has been invaded with the asparagus
>beetle.  I don't use any pesticides, so i end up hand picking them off the
>plant, along with their eggs; and put them in a soap solution contained in
a
>screw top plastic bottle. I need to pick the beetles every morning before I
>go to work, but I end up having minimum damage to the plants.
>
>Rene.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Grem, Beth A <GremEA@navair.navy.mil>
>To: 'veggie-list@eskimo.com' <veggie-list@eskimo.com>
>Date: Thursday, April 08, 1999 9:12 AM
>Subject: Asparagus Planted!
>
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>  I got my asparagus roots planted yesterday!  I am not quitting my day
>>job-I need the rest after digging two 16 foot trenches 6" deep.  Ok, Ok,
I
>>rototilled first and all I really had to do is remove the dirt, but I'm
>>still sore.  I dug into my first ever compost pile, too. Oh man, what
great
>>stuff.  I'm sure the asparagus will love it. (put compost, lime and
>bonemeal
>>in bottom of trench then covered with dirt, placed roots on top and
covered
>>with dirt.) didn't believe that the pile of stuff I collected last year
>>would really turn out this good.  I'm hooked.  Gimme those leaves....
>>
>>Beth (MD zone 7)
>>
>>
>
>
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