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Re: Asparagus

Mulch the asparagus with a fine mulch like sawdust or wood chips.  If 
you can get sawdust horse litter, so much the better.  Just make sure 
the horses are grain or alfalfa-fed.  Grass-fed horse manure is very 
weedy.  Mulch at least 2 inches, and if the crowns were not planted 
deeply, you can mulch up to four inches.  Spread some slow-release 
fertilizer under the mulch.  (Soymeal, bonemeal and kelp meal in equal 
parts works well.)  

I'd leave the fern stalks on the bed in your climate because they'll 
help hold the snow over the crowns.  Remove the stalks in spring if they 
haven't rotted.  

We had an ice storm last winter (unheard-of around here) and so I got 
lots of alder branches which chip up nicely.  My 100' by 10' asparagus 
bed has a 3" mulch of alder chips now.

Steve  (Maritime Climate -- USDA Zone irrelevant)

Susan W.Smith wrote:
> 
> What kind of treatment is needed for an asparagus bed.  I put one in this
> spring and it looks terrific.  DO I need to mulch, cut anything down or
> what.  The asparagus is currently about 4 feet high and bending over a bit.
> I am in zone 5/6 in central Pa so the weather is still pretty mild.  We have
> only had a light frost so far.
> 
> I did start cleaning up other parts of the garden.  I have a number of
> string beans that I left on the vine and am planning to save for planting
> next year.  Any special handling needed for these beans.  I thought I just
> let them dry and just put them away in an container until spring.  What temp
> is best for storing.
> 
> Thanks,
> Susan W. Smith
> State College, PA 16801
> sws2@psu.edu
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