Asparagus
Botanical name: Asparagus officinalis
Family: Liliaceae
Plant type: Herbaceous perennials
Origin: Mediterranean
Soil: They love nutrient rich, well drained soil. Add well
rotted animal manure and 1 cup of complete fertiliser per square metre.
Planting instructions:
Plant the crowns 30cm apart & 15cm deep ,in rows that are 1-1.5m apart.
Position: Full sun
Maintenance & Harvest: In the first year, allow the asparagus to
grow undisturbed. In the first December, top dress with complete fertilizer.
Then, in Autumn when the foliage goes yellow, cut the foliage back to ground
level. Then, in late Winter or early Spring, mound up the rows 10-20cm for
green asparagus. For white asparagus, mound up to 35cm tall and you can expect
a small crop of Asparagus in Aug/Sept. After 4-6 weeks of picking, leave the
spears grow to develop the plant.
For green asparagus, cut the spears off at ground level when 10-20cm tall.
Harvest white asparagus just as the spears emerge from the mound. You need to
cut the spears off as close to the crown as possible, (this will be about 20cm
under the soil).
In the second year, picking should last for 12-16 weeks & mounds should be
flattened after each cropping.
Keep free of weeds at all times.
Fertiliser: Each season feed well just before cropping and again,
just after.