The Farmers' Daughter
Bob's biggest Fan
How do you harvest it? Do you cut the stalks or do they pull out?If you like asparagus, you have to grow your own!! My nephew loves asparagus. He stopped by when I had a good batch to pick. I started the water boiling, went to the garden, picked the asparagus, back into the kitchen for a quick rinse and trim and then steamed the asparagus for 3 minutes. I melted butter pats on it and a little salt and pepper. He was eating the asparagus within 5 minutes of it having been picked. My nephew's response was "I thought that I liked asparagus. Wow, so this is what asparagus is supposed to taste like!!" The only way it could be any fresher is if I cooked it in the garden. There is no better asparagus than straight from the garden to the stove.
When I used to buy asparagus from a store, I would pick out the skinny stalks but when I pick it from my garden, I want the fattest stalks. They are so good.
Around here, all stores with a garden department will have a selection of asparagus roots available. They will have the directions on how to plant it on the package. It is readily available from any of the many seed companies and will come with instructions.
I originally planted Mary Washington and Jersey Giant. Later I added Purple Passion. Now most of my asparagus is hybrids that grew from the seeds produced every year.
I planted the asparagus in its own bed. It gets watered with the rest of the garden. Since I am on a sand dune and sand does not hold water, it gets watered every two to three days during growing season. I fertilize it annually with azomite and some 16-16-16 fertilizer.