RE: Asparagus

I don't have any first hand knowledge Bill, but I just ordered
Asparagus crowns (young plant starts) from Territorial Seeds,
and had to do a little research myself.

I ordered a Hybrid call 'Jersey Knight'(F1) that are an all-male
variety that have larger yields and quality (they say) producing
7-9 spears at maturity, with a window of 6-8 weeks. The 
crowns are sold in counts of 25.

Another source say's you need about 20 plants per person,
but I think they were considering a male-female variety. 
As 25 all-male crowns would give you about 200 eating 
spears each year.

You can buy seed that are to be started in pots and later 
transplanted, but even they are not real cheap, and a two year 
wait for a harvest. Crowns were about $12. more, mailed at 
planting time and take an extra year off harvest time. 

Territorial say's to set in well drained, deep beds, feed Spring 
and Fall and remove ferns in the fall and burn. They can attract
slugs in the Spring. 

In Eliot Coleman's book, "Four-Season Harvest", he reminds of weeding
and watering, and planting 24'' apart set in 30'' spaced rows. He
also notes that these all-male plants don't drop seeds that will have
to be weeded out. Though he still prefers raising 'Viking' from seed.
(doesn't say why). Also that they should be covered with a few inches
of hay for winter. He's in zone 5.

Hope this helped.

Sincerely,       
~Carleen~
Keeper of Sheep & Old Roses
Rainier, OR  zone 8  
----------
> From: Bill <wcm4@earthlink.net>
> To: veggie-list@eskimo.com
> Subject: asparagus
> Date: Wednesday, January 06, 1999 10:49 AM
> 
> Hello , 
>  I'm thinking about starting an asparagus  bed 
> this spring . I'm in  Tennessee in zone 6.
> Any tips on  variety , how many plants  or 
> anything else I might need  to know ? 
> Thanks for any  help .
> 
> Bill
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