well yesterday it was only 39 degrees and they were calling for a light frost thur the night..
normally my asparagus doesn't come up till May..but with the hot 80's of last week it was poking thur the ground
this patch was put in in 1989..so if you are thinking of doing asparagus..pick a spot you really want them in..
they are
martha washington..which is the only type you could get back then
and are female plants..which toss seeds
now there are male plants like
jersey knight that are not supposted to throw seeds...
the verdict is still out on that claim..imho
i put in a bed of 67 plants of jersey knight about 5 years ago and picked some last year
the time involved will tell you that it is a 'wait for it' crop.
.but ohhhhhh so worth it
anyway..here are the just a few popping up and with the posibility of frost..i picked them
well actually you use a knife and cut at the soil line
we never edged this plot and the crab grass fights for space every year..
but that doesn't seem to hinder the asparagus which is very deep..
we had a back hoe and horses when we put this in..
so the roots are well down there about 8 feet with a winters worth of manure
the other thing about the male plants is you can plant on the surface
i'll photo them as they grow to show you the difference later
well i missed one or two
they can't take the frost and here is one this morning
it was frozen and would be mush in your hand if you tried to pick it
HOWEVERone of my favorite meals is asparagus and shittake
we used to grow shittake so one year i had lots and tossed them in the skillet together
it was one of those things they say are to die for delicious
last night i got a taste early
even if i did have to run out to the big grocery and get a qtr pound (8 bucks a pound..oh wow) of shittake
then rinsed off asparagus..just picked
and sliced shittake
some real butter melted in a skillet
dump in the goodies
a little pepper and salt and cover with alum foil..so that it isn't sealed
stir now and then..maybe takes all of five minutes
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh YUM
can only say OINK OINK after that