| My allotment in Liverpool |
| ASPARAGUS |
| GROW FROM SEED (cheap) I sowed a whole packet of seeds into a seed tray and after 3 weeks was able to prick out 49 seedlings into 3 inch pots. Sow March (under cover) to May (outside). No heat is necessary. |
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| BIG PLANTS After about two months I replanted the seedlings into 5 inch pots. I fed them monthly with Miracle Gro and by October when the leaves were yellowing some were 18 inches (45cm) high. |
| DORMANT One half of a raised bed in December held all 49 5 inch pots exactly! All I had to do was pull out the odd weed, the winter was wet enough to mean that watering was never necessary. |
| PREMATURE By late January some of the plants had sprouted due to the mild weather, but frost in February killed them off. One in particular was very early (see below) |
| TRENCH In Early April I dug two trenches 3 feet (1 metre) apart, a spades depth. I dug one at a time, throwing the soil first to the undug trench side and then to the manured side. |
| MANURE A six inch deep layer of well rotted horse manure was place in each trench and filled with soil. Bare rooted plants need a different approach. |
| POTTED PLANTS The usual advice is to spread the roots out over a mound within the trench. But as mine were in pots I decided to plant them as they are. |
| THROUGH THE HOLES It was obvious that a lot of activity was going on under the surface as fresh roots were pushing through the holes in the bottom of the pots. |
| GOOD ROOTS Removing the pot revealed a mass of roots showing that it was a good time to plant as leaving them in the pots for longer would have made them potbound. |
| PLANTED The whole pot of roots was planted in the trench, undisturbed and because the spears were small, I marked out the position of each with a small stick. |
| TWO ROWS I planted 18 in two rows of nine, this left 31 plants to give away away and they were quickly snapped up. That is a satisfying thing about allotments as everybody shares. |
| WATER All the plants were watered and a mulch applied. They looked very healthy and within 48 hours, they had definitely grown. |
| PATIENCE I put a path between the rows as it will make it easy to access. This is where patience is a virtue as next year if I am lucky I might cut one spear from each plant as a taster, but the following year I should get two or three. After that, 18 plants should provide more than enough to keep us going for the 6 weeks of the year that it can be pulled. I remember my last bed in a previous house where we had so much that it was used as greens, (sausage, mash and asparagus!). By 21st June the plants were established as on the right. |
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| 2008 Year three |
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| The photo on the left shows growth of new spears in December, they are much thicker than the old stalks still standing. The photo on the right shows a spear cut on 16th January. These early spears all succumb to frost so I pulled (and ate) the long one. I shall probably take one pulling for a meal this year, one from each plant,and start cutting next year. I wonder if the spear came from the plant shown on right, second from top. I may have stumbled on a freak early cultivar. |
| 2009 Year four |
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| I could not resist publishing this photo taken on Good Friday the 10th April. I managed a small pulling last year but the bed promises a bounty over the next few weeks. Well worth the four year wait! |
| Remember that some people produce strange smelling urine after eating asparagus. It is not a reason to avoid it, but is worth mentioning as a reassurance. |
| How to grow asparagus - in pictures |
| Growing asparagus is easy |