My Asparagus Jungle: A Permaculture Success Story!
Asparagus For Everyone!
This is right now!
Who would have thought that when one of my nursery friends, Strange & Co. posted on Facebook that she had asparagus roots for sale that I would be so successful! 50 for $50, I'm sold! Then she was dropping prices because they hadn't all sold and I said how much for the rest? She gave me an incredible deal and I was happy to get 150 roots with a "handful" of small ones thrown in for free...
I prepared my bed in the newly tilled area and had a 75-foot row with two rows in it planned out! So I dumped what looked like a lot more than 150 crown roots into a bucket of water and started placing them in trenches. Soon, I realized there was way more than 150 in this bucket! I built another bed for the extra and quickly ran out of room again and built another bed! We now had 3, 75-foot beds with two rows each and a total of 300 crowns planted! I couldn't believe how generous she had been and made a mental note to bring her some yummy asparagus in two years when they were mature enough to harvest from!
Here is the video I made of planting them and how we made it a permaculture bed!
Fast forward to late August in Georgia and these asparagus crowns are acting like they have been here 20 years! They grew very fast right from the start! Must have been all that composted manure we used in our garden from our awesome goats! They quickly shot up out of the ground, several per crown! They continued all summer to produce new shoots and grow up up up towards the sky! I have never seen anything like it! My other asparagus bed I planted three years ago has only ever had 2-3 stalks per plant!? These are now at 10-12 per plant minimum and still producing new shoots in August!!!????
Can't even see the path anymore!
My friend tells me that we can harvest next spring if they are over 4-feet tall. They have been that tall and taller since before summer even reached us! They really are huge! And the celery under them is thriving from all the shade! I went out to pick celery yesterday for my homemade chicken soup and could barely get through the big fern like fronds growing over them like a protective parent. I parted them and dug down into the soft, feathery leaves tickling my cheek, to reach a lush celery plant and chopped it off at ground level with my big butcher knife.
Much taller than my 5'4" self!
It really amazes me how great this bed has done! My other older bed hardly does anything! Not sure if it's the manure, the mulch our awesome volunteers from the Georgia Farmers Market Association put down, or the quality of the root crowns? Or maybe, it is from the genuine LOVE my friend showed by giving me such a good deal combined with the love and appreciation I have for organic, homegrown asparagus!
Can you feel the LOVE?
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Wow, looks amazing! We just got our asparagus started this year. Do you know how long you have to wait to use goat compost? We have goats as well and I wasn't sure when I could use their poop.
We compost it most of the way. BUT! Goat is like rabbit and is not considered HOT. So it won't burn your plants or hurt them in any way. The only concern is the pathogens that could be present in uncomposted manure like E-coli or salmonella. So I wouldn't want the manure to touch the fruit you are harvesting to eat. With proper sanitization procedures, it should not be an issue, plenty of people use it fresh with no issues.
When we moved in here we found out that next spring that the prior owner had planted asparagus EVERYWHERE in the back !! I love it and yet 3 years ago I planted more and then 2 year ago, even more !!! Next year you'll be peeing green (trust me hahaha)
Yes! I love it!
What an amazing story of success patience and growing organic. I really loved your post and pictures. I'm following you now, because I saw this thanks to @goldendawne so big thanks to she for sharing this amazing post as well. Let's build community one resteem at a time. @OriginalWorks
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Thank you so much! And thanks to @goldendawne I love this community! What is this originalworks?
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Awesome crop. That composted goat manure works wonders. Unbelievable growth for the first year. Time for market...
I hope to market to a few chef friends in the spring
That's beautiful, @wholesomeroots!! Daayyyyyum!! Asparagus is the long term investment of gardening, but worth the time - as you've made apparent! I've got some asparagus seed - show me the way! I grow when I know..lol.
That's what I love about gardening, it is a constant learning process and people share their knowledge. That's beautiful! I've learned virtually everything I know about growing plants from those willing to share their knowledge. I am doing the same as I progress, so together we grow!
What a great head start that seems to be leading to another near term success story! It's organic, don't panic! 😋 Happy Harvest to you both, great work!
I am so excited! Be sure to use compost rich soil!
That's the worm's job 😋
I grow with mushroom compost and organic nutrients provided graciously by the Earth! they don't call me the 'plant whisperer' for nothin 😆🌱🍅
Wow that is awesome. I have a smaller asparagus plot of about 20 roots. I wish I could have got the deal you did. Do you have any good recipes?
We had a smaller bed with 40 crowns but it struggles! We got a great deal on these! I love simple roasted or grilled asparagus. Just toss in EVOO and salt and pepper maybe a little garlic too. Then we make homemade mayo to dip it in! YUM!!!
Yum sounds delicious! Thanks for the reply.
Wow, 300 asparagus is a lot!!
I planted an asparagus bed for the first time this year - but only 30 plants. Looking forward to cropping in a year or two.
I'll also try adding celery next year as I've seen a few people mention that combination. I wonder if I can squeeze in some strawberries as well?
I added some strawberries too! We will definitely add more just have to dig them up from another spot!
That was an incredible find!
We love asparagus but too soon to harvest. Just planting this season but I'm dreaming of the day when we can enjoy
I can't wait! We were expecting to wait 2 years so I'm excited the roots were so healthy that this spring will be awesome!
Those monster asparagus plants look amazing!
I think so too! Can't wait to taste them!
Thats a pretty wicked outcome. Congrats!
Thanks, it happened pretty fast!